RUBIACEAE 447 



1. D. repens (L.) Forst. 



A prostrate, nearly or quite glabrous, somewhat succulent, slender, 

 branched, herbaceous annual, rooting at the nodes. Leaves narrowly 

 oblong-obovate to narrowly elliptic, 1 cm long or less. Flowers axillary, 

 solitary, sessile, white, about 2 mm long. Capsule ovoid, about 4 mm long. 



In open damp places, roadsides, etc., fl. most of the year; throughout the 

 Philippines. India through Malaya to Australia and Polynesia. 



4. OLDENLANDIA Linnaeus 



Slender, erect or spreading, simple, diffusely or dichotomously branched 

 herbs. Leaves narrow. Flowers small, white, axillary or terminal, solitary, 

 or in few-flowered umbels or cymes. Calyx-teeth 4, rarely 5, usually eriect. 

 Corolla rotate, funnel- or salver-shaped, the tube long or short, 4- or 5- 

 lobed. Ovary 2-celled; ovules numerous. Capsule small, membranaceous 

 or chartaceous, loculicidal at the top, terete or angled. (In honor of H. B. 

 Oldenland.) 



Species 70 or more, tropical and subtropical, about 8 in the Philippines. 



1. Leaves elliptic-ovate to oblong; calyx-teeth in fruit very small; flowers 



cymose .._ 1. O. biflora 



1. Leaves linear to linear-oblanceolate or lanceolate; calyx-teeth prominent. 



2. Flowers in axillary, few-flowered umbels 2. 0. corymbosa 



2. Flowers axillary, solitary. 



3. Pedicels not or but little longer than the flowers 3. O. diffusa 



3. Pedicels much longer than the flowers. 

 4. Erect, dichotomously branched, rather rigid; leaves 1 to 3 cm long. 



4. O. herbacea 

 4. Weak, ascending, usually unbranched; leaves less than 7 mm long. 



6. 0. brachyphylla 



1. O. biflora L. (0. paniculata L.). 



An annual glabrous herb, branched from the base, 6 to 30 cm high, 

 the branches somewhat angled, ascending. Leaves shortly petioled, elliptic- 

 ovate to oblong, acute or obtuse, 1 to 3 cm long, the nerves faint. Cymes 

 in the upper axils, 3- to 7-flowered, somewhat panicled, the pedicels slender. 

 Calyx green. Corolla white, small. Capsules cup-shaped or ovoid, about 

 3 mm long, crowned by the four small calyx-teeth. 



In open waste places, grass lands, etc., possibly introduced, fl. all the 

 year; throughout the Philippines. India to China, Malaya, and Polynesia. 



2. O. corymbosa L. i _ 



An erect or spreading, branched, annual herb 20 to 50 cm in length. 

 Leaves linear-oblanceolate to linear-oblong, 1.5 to 3 cm long. Flowers in 

 axillary, peduncled, 2- to 5-flowered umbels, the peduncles slender, 5 to 

 10 mm long, the pedicels half as long or less, some solitary flowers often 

 intermixed. Corolla small, white. Capsule turbinate, about 2 mm long, 

 not protruded beyond the short acuminate calyx-lobes. 



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

 possibly introduced. Most tropical countries. 



3. O. diffusa (Willd.) Roxb. 



A slender, spreading or ascending, glabrous, more or less branched annual 

 herb reaching a length of 50 cm or less. Leaves linear, 1 to 3 cm long. 

 Flowers axillary, solitary, white, about 3 mm long, the pedicels about as 



