Eriocaulon.] Eriocaulmece. 5 



villous with long hairs; bracteoles orbicular-ovate, black, 

 dorsally shortly bearded above the middle, outer very shortly 

 cuspidate, inner acute, male fl. stipitate, sep. 3, obovate, 

 dorsally densely villous, one lobe of corolla much the longest, 

 much exceeding the bracteoles, obovate, villous all over, 

 stam. 6; fern. fl. subsessile, 2 sep. concave, 1 narrower, flat, 

 cor. sessile or stipitate, pet. 3, oblanceolate, villous, 2 or all 

 with a black spot; seeds not seen. 



Montane zone ; rather common. Galagama (Gardner) ; Maskeliyat 

 Moist places in Central Province, alt. 6000-8000 ft. (Pearson). Fl. 

 Feb., March. 



Endemic. 



Gardner's number for this was 932, not 972 as in Herb. Kew. Mr. 

 Pearson has collected specimens with the invol. bracts varying as 

 described above. 



7. E. sezang-ulare, L. Sp. PI. 87 (1753). Kokmota, S. 

 Herm. Mus. 7. Burm. Thes. 108. Fl. Zeyl. n. 49. E. Wal- 

 lichianum, Mart.; Thw. Enum. 341 ; Trim. Syst. Cat. Ceyl. 99. C. P. 220. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 580. Wall. PL As. Rar. t. 249. 



Stem as thick as the little finger or less, short, rarely 

 elongate; 1. 4-12 by \-\ in. broad at the base, narrowed from 

 the base to the subacute or acuminate tip, thin, many-veined, 

 opaque, striate, drying brown; scapes many, tall, up to 18 in. 

 high, slender, stiff, stoutly 5-ribbed, sheath 3-6 in., herbaceous, 

 tip ending in a long green point; heads \-\ in. diam., globose, 

 hemispheric or conical, sometimes viviparous, hard, hoary, 

 base truncate, at length intruded ; bracts short, subquadrate 

 or orbicular, spreading, rigidly coriaceous, closely appressed 

 £0 the fl., glabrous, yellow, shining; recept. globose, hemi- 

 spheric or columnar, sparsely hairy; bracteoles densely im- 

 bricate, broadly cuneate-spathulate, cuspidate, rigid, tip dark, 

 hoary with snow-white powdery pubescence ; male fl. quite 

 flat, sep. free or connate, flabelliform, crenate - toothed, 

 glabrous, cor.-lobes minute, triangular, ciliate, stam. 6; fern. fl. 

 strongly compressed, subsessile, sep. 3, 2 very large, dolabri- 

 Form and cymbiform, acute, incurved, dorsally broadly winged, 

 third small, linear, flat, pet. filiform, terminated by a pencil of 

 long hairs; seeds oblong or subglobose, T V in. diam., red- 

 brown, ribbed, ribs papillose. 



Wet places in moist low country; very common. Abundant in the 

 cinnamon gardens, Colombo. Fl. Dec, March, July. ' 



In Tropical Asia generally ; Madagascar. 

 x According to Continental Indian specimens the male fl. vary greatly, 

 sometimes approaching the fern, in the form of the sepals, or are, with 

 them, very much reduced. 



