COMMELINACEAE 139 



In open grasslands, waste places, etc., common, fl. all the year; through- 

 out the Philippines. India to China, and Malaya. 



2. A. versicolor Dalz. 



A succulent, spreading, branched plant, the stems 10 to 40 cm long, 

 often ascending, glabrous or sparingly hairy. Leaves ovate to oblong-ovate, 

 1 to 4 cm long, .base broad and cordate, somewhat clasping the stems, the 

 sheaths usually short, hairy. Flowers solitary or in pairs, in the upper 

 axils, their pedicles 1.5- to 2 cm long. Sepals green, oblong-elliptic, obtuse, 

 4 to 5 mm long. Petals orbicular-ovate to broadly elliptic, 5 to 6 mm 

 long, yellowish- or russet-brown, turning purple in drying. Filaments 

 clothed with weak yellowish-brown hairs. Capsule oblong, 5 mm long, 

 inclosed by the sepals. Capsule about 4 mm long, the seeds 1-seriate, pitted. 



In open wet grasslands, Caloocan to Masambong, etc., fl. Oct.-Dec; 

 very local in the Philippines. . India. 



3. RHOEO Hance 



A stout, erect or ascending, unbranched herb. Leaves large, alternate, 

 base sheathing. Peduncles axillary, short, terminated by 2, large, com- 

 pressed, somewhat boat-shaped, subopposite bracts that inclose the inflores- 

 cence. Flowers very numerous, congested, their pedicels with sheathing 

 basal bracteoles. Sepals 3, free, petaloid. Petals 3, free. Stamens 6, all 

 fertile; filaments bearded. Ovary sessile, ovoid, 3-celled, the cells 1-ovuled. 

 Capsule 3- or 2-celled, loculicidally dehiscent. 



A monotypio American genus, with us only cultivated and not spontaneous. 



*1. R. DISCOLOR (L'Her.) Hance. 



A stout, perennial, herbaceous, somewhat fleshy plant 0.5 m high or less, 

 the stem thick, unbranched. Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, 30 to 40 cm 

 long, 4 to 6 cm wide, fleshy, the upper surface dark-green, the lower 

 purple. Inflorescence axillary, short-peduncled, the flowers surrounded by 

 two, large, imbricate, laterally compressed, distichous, 3 to 4 cm long, 

 purplish bracts. Flowers numerous in each inflorescence, fascicled, white, 

 about 1 cm in diameter. (Fl. Filip. pi. 84, Tradescantia discolor.) 



Cultivated for ornamental purposes, fl. most of the year. A native of 

 tropical America. 



4. CYANOTIS Don 



Prostrate or ascending, usually branched herbs. Flowers in axillary and 

 terminal cymes formed of large, imbricated, leafy, biseriate, falcate brac- 

 teoles, or in axillary clusters with small bracts. Sepals unequal, free or 

 connate below. Petals 3, subequal. Stamens 6, all perfect, the filaments 

 usually bearded. Ovary 3-celled, cells 2-ovuled. Capsule 3-celled, loculi- 

 cidal. (Greek "blue" and "ear'' from the color and form of the petals.) 



Species about 35 in the tropics of the Old World, 4 or 5 in the Philippines. 



Flowers solitary, terminal 1. C. moluccana 



Flowers enclosed in large, biseriate, falcate, imbricate bracteoles. 



2. C. cristata 



Flowers fascicled ih the leaf-axils, the bracteoles small, not imbricate and 



not enclosing the flowers 3. C. axillaris 



1. C. moluccana (Roxb.) Merr. '(C uniflora Hassk.). 



A slender, prostrate plant, the stems branched, rooting at the nodes, 

 10' to 30 cm in length. Leaves oblong, afcute, 2 to 4 cm long, the upper 



