Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. 29 



petioles varying in length. Heads -3 to 4 in. in diam., in lax corym- 

 bose, pedunculate cymes. Involucral bracts oblong, obtuse or acute, 

 glabrous, glandular or scabrid. Corollas white, pubescent near the 

 mouth, styles much exserted, the arms clavate. Cypselas usually 

 warted, crowned by a glandular ring, bearing pedicellate lobed glands. 

 DC. Prod. V. Ill ; Clarke Comp. Ind. 28 ; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. III. 

 242 ; Prain Bengal Plants, 591. 



In all the provinces, but not abundant in any of them. — Distrib. 

 The tropics generally. 



In the Flora of British India, III. 242, Sir Joseph Hooker recognises seven varieties 

 of this widely distributed and variable species. And to one or other of these he 

 reduces the following eleven species of De CandoUe : A. fastigiatum, DC. Prod. V. Ill, 

 A. leiocarpum, A. Roylei, A. elatum, A. latifolium, I.e. p. 112, A. macroplnjlhim, A. 

 parvifloriim, A. reticulatuin, A. viscosum, A. madurense, A. erectum, I.e. p. 113. He 

 also reduces here the following: Ageratum aquaticum, Roxb. Fl. Ind. III. 415; A. 

 strictum, Bot. Mag. t. 2410 ; Lavenia fastigiata, macrophylla and parviflora, Blume 

 Bijdr. pp. 905 and 906 ; and the following Nos. of the Wallichian Catalogue, viz., 

 Lavenia erecta, 3218 ; carnosa, 3219 ; alha, 3220 ; rugosa, 3221 ; viscida, 3222. 



4. Ageeatum, Linn. 



Erect herbs. Leaves opposite in the lower part of the stem, alter- 

 nate in the upper. Heads in panicles or corymbs, homogamous. Invo- 

 lucre narrowly campanulate ; its bracts in 2 or 3 series, linear, subequal ; 

 receptacle convex, naked or with deciduous scales. Corollas all tubular, 

 equal, regular, the limb 5-cleft. Anthers with slight apical appendages, 

 their bases obtuse. Style-arms elongate, obtuse. Cypselas 5-angled ; 

 pappus of 5 short, free or connate scales, or of 10 to 20 narrow, unequal 

 scales. — Distrib. About 20 species, all probably American, several 

 introduced in the Tropics of the Old World. 



Ageratum conyzoidbs, Linn. Sp. PI. 839. Annual, 1 to 2 

 feet high, everywhere with sparse white, rather soft pubescence. 

 Leaves membranous, ovate, sub-acute, the base broad and sub-truncate, 

 sometimes cuneate ; the edges coarsely crenate or dentate ; both sur- 

 faces greenish when dry, the upper sparsely hispid ; the lower glabrous, 

 boldly reticulate ; main-nerves about 2 or 3 pairs, ascending, curved, 

 the lower one branching; length 1 to 3*5 in. Heads -25 in. in diam., 

 in terminal or axillary corymbose cymes. Involucral bracts shorter 

 than the flowers, narrowly lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, puberulous. 

 Corollas pale blue or white. Cypselas black ; pappus of 5 shining, 

 spreading scales, with broad, often serrate bases. DC. Prod. V. 108 ;. 

 Clarke Comp. Ind. 30 ; Wall. Cat. 3176 ; Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. III. 

 243; Prain Bengal Plants, 591. A. cordifolium, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. III. 

 415 ; Wall. Cat. 3177. 



