498 pENTANDRiA MONdGYNiA. Achyranthis* 



ap.— From 4 h'lrdnthes it differs in the unequal, spinescent perianth, 

 inoffensive seal s, au.i i>bhujg &ub-. euilorm tmit; from Nysianthes, 

 JBr >wn (.Did, I. 418) to winch it comes still nearer, in the qumate 

 pans ot the fl >wer, in all Che filaments being united at the base, aud 

 in the soft, very thin scales. 



1 fouud it in great abundance on die margins of Tanks in the Tur- 

 rayee, chiefly at Moo. iya, about ten miles from the SUala forest, be- 

 tween Soogolee and Bjssoliye, in fruit in November. In the H m. 

 Company's botanic garden it has been introduced from Sjihet and 

 blossoms freely towards the c-ose of the rainy season, ripening its 

 fruit in December. 



.Native name at Sjlhet, Hooeet (^tT&.) 



Stems several, growing to many feet in length, as thick as a man's 

 thumb, round, creeping, sometimes floating at the base, scabrous, 

 with a number of small elevated dots, slightly furrowed ; joints a lit- 

 tle" contracted, purplish, the lowermost sending forth a iascicle of ca- 

 piJary radicles. — Branches opposite, sub-simple, g< neraLy unequal 

 in length, pubescent, ascending, as is also the end of the stem. — ■ 

 Leaves opposite, lanceolate, tapering, finely acuminate, acute at 

 the base, en the, pubescent, from four to six inches long, with ob- 

 lique hairy neives; while young villous, greyish, as are also the ten- 

 der branches. — Petiol slender, scarcely an inch long, furrowed, em- 

 bracing the -stem with a slight y elevated line.— Syike terminal, ses- 

 sile, erect, from six to ten inches long, tapering, cylindric, as, thick 

 as a small finger. — Rachh round, vidous.— Flowers large, numerous, 

 scattered, approximate, sessile, spreading, supported by three small 

 transparent, very thin, and membranous, smooth, ci.iate bractes ; the 

 lower one adhering to therachis, persistent, lanceolate, acute, slight- 

 ly concave; the inner two much broader, sub-orbicular, imbricating, 

 bluntish, falling off with the fruit bearing perianth. — Perianthium 

 consisting of five lanceolate, most spreading, tapering, acuminate, 



igid and pungent segments, almost five-leaved, of a green colour, 

 with membranous margins, perfectly smooth, striate, the uppermost a 

 little longer and narrower. Soon after fecundation it becomes rigid- 



