Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. ■ 6i7 



ceolate to linear, hispid, sessile. Floioers clustered in the axils, 4 to 6 

 of the outer bracts being strong spines an inch long. Bract -5 to 1 in. 

 long, lanceolate. Calyx -35 to -5 in. long, divided nearly to the base 

 into 4 lanceolate lobes, one of which is broader and sometimes emar- 

 ginate. Corolla 1 in. long, pale purple. Anthem and pollen of the 

 genus. Capsule "35 in. long, linear-oblong, 4- to 8-seeded from the base. 

 C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. El. Br. Ind. IV. 409 ; Burkill in Dyer Fl. 

 Trop. Afr. V. 31; C. B. Clarke in Dyer M. Cap. V. 11 {with all 

 syn.) ; Prain Beng. Plants 802 ; H. longifolia, Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. 

 Beng. 1870, II. 78 {non Nees). Asteracantha longifolia, Nees in Wall. 

 PI. As. Ear. III. 80, and in DC. Prodr. XI. 247; Wight Ic. t. 449; 

 Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. II. 811 ; Lindau in Engl. & Prantl Pflanzenfam. IV. 

 3 B, 297. A. auriculata, Nees in DC. I. c. 248. 



SiNGAPOEE : King's Collector 249. — Disteib. Abundant in India 

 and Africa. 



Hygrophila longifolia, Nees (in Mart. PI. Brasil, IX. 22 (1847)), is a totally different 

 plant ; for this cause T. Anderson, when he transferred Asteracantha longifolia to 

 Hygrophila, gave it the new name H. spinosa. Nevertheless, some botanists call the 

 Asiatic Asteracantha by the name H. longifolia, thereby causing great confusion. 



6. NoMAPHiLA, Blume. 



Inflorescence in numerous 1-sided, open, axillary racemes shorter 

 than the leaves. Bract (and prophylla) inconspicuous, linear, or 

 wanting. Calyx even in the bud deeply divided (two-thirds or three- 

 fourths of the way down) into 5 lobes. Otherwise as Hygrophila. — 

 Species 14, viz. 8 in South-east Asia, very closely allied, and 6 in 

 Tropical Africa. 



This genus is in essentials Hygrophila, and is sunk in Hygrophila by both 

 Lindau and Burkill, but is easily distinguished from it, whether estimated a genus 

 or \ subgenus. 



1. NoMAPHiLA STEiCTA, Nees in DC. Prodr. XI. 84 (1847). Nearly 

 glabrous, drying a black-green. Stems 3 ft. Leaves : blade 3 to 4-5 in. 

 long, narrowly elliptic, attenuate at either end ; midrib beneath with 

 fine patent hairs ; petioles up to 2 to 3 in. long. Corymbs in many 

 axils, 2 to 4 in. in diam., recurved in fruit; peduncles less than 1 in. 

 long ; pedicels nearly glabrous ; bract and prophylla linear, incon- 

 spicuous or 0. Calyx '25 to -35 in. long, divided nearly to the base ; 

 segments 5, linear, glabrous or minutely scabrous or hispid (not viscid 

 or glandular-hairy). Corolla '5 in. long or more, bright blue. Fila- 

 ments glabrous ; pollen 20 ft in diam., globose, with 12 to 16 longi- 

 tudinal ribs. Ovary and style pubescent. Capsule -35 to -6 in. long ; 



