138 A FLORA OP MANILA 



ing one at a time from a terminal, complicate, compressed-funnel-shaped, 

 or hooded spathe, the fruiting pedicel and capsule retracted within the 

 apathe. Sepals 3, thin. Petals larger than the sepals, clawed, blue. 

 Stamens 3 perfect and 2 or 3 imperfect; anthers oblong, one usually 

 larger than the others. Capsule loculicidal. (In honor of R. Commelin, 

 a Dutch botanist.) 



Species about 90, all tropical and subtropical, 2 in the Philippines. 



Spathes complicate, margins free or nearly so ; leaves lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate...^ - 1- C. nudi flora 



Spathes funnel-shaped, margins more or less united; leaves elliptic-ovate 



2. C. benghalenais 



1. C. nudlflora L. Alicbangon (Tag.). 



A prostrate, spreading, branched, glabrous or nearly glabrous plant, 

 the stems rooting at the nodes, the ultimate branches ascending. Leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 3 to 7 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide. Inflorescence 

 axillary, peduncled, the flowers cymose, inclosed in a complicate leaf-like 

 spathe, the margins free, the cymes usually 2 in each spathe, few-flowered. 

 Innfr petals larger, blue, 6 to 7 mm long, the outer ones much smaller, 

 pale or nearly white. 



In open waste places, common, fl. all the year; widely distributed in 

 the Philippines. In most tropical and subtropical countries. 



2. C. benghalensis L. Alicbangon (Tag.). 



A prostrate or ascending, branched, usually pubescent plant, the stems 

 rooting at the nodes. Leaves elliptic-ovate, obtuse or acute, base narrowed 

 into a petiole, 4 to 7 cm long. Spathes 1 to 3 together, green, funnel- 

 shaped, compressed, about 1.5 cm long and wide. Flowers blue, long-, 

 pedicelled in anthesis, facicled, several in each spathe, the petals 3 to 4 

 mm long. Capsules 4 to 5 mm long. (Fl. Filip. pi. IS.) 



In open waste places, fl. all the year; throughout the Philippines. 

 Tropical Asia, Africa, and Malaya. 



Cleistogamous flowers are usually produced at the lower nodes, ripening 

 the capsules on the surface of or below the ground. 



2. ANEILEMA R. Brown 



Simple oi" branched, prostrate, ascending, or erect herbs. Flowers pur- 

 plish or yellow, in axillary and terminal panicles, the bracts not spathe-like. 

 Sepals 3, free, thin. Petals 3, obovate, equal. Stamens usually 3, rarely 

 2, the filaments glabrous or bearded; staminodes 2 to 4. Ovary sessile. 

 Capsule loculicidal, cells 1- to several-seeded. (In allusion to the flowers 

 not having a spathe.) 



Species about 60, chiefly in tropical Asia, about 5 in the Philippines. 



Flowers pale-purplish 1. A. malabaricum 



Flowers russet- or yellowish-brown 2. A. versicolor 



1. A. malabaricum (L.) Merr. (A. nudiflorum R. Br.). 



A rather slender, nearly glabrous plant, biauched and decumbent below, 

 the flowering stems erect or ascending, 10 to 30 cm high. Leaves narrowly 

 oblong-lanceolate, 3 to 10 cm long, 5 to 10 mm wide. Inflorescence terminal, 

 the flowers racemosely clustered near the ends of the few branches. Flowers 

 pink- purple, small, numerous, about 6 mm in diameter. Capsule ovoid, 

 about 3 mm lone. (Fl. Filip. pi. U67.) 



