574 



GENUS II. PLUMBAGO. 

 Pentandrla Honosynia. Sex: Syst: 



Deriv IVom Plumbum, a disorder of the eyes, which some spe- 

 cies were formerly said to cure. 



Gex. Chae. Calyx tubular, 5-toothed at the apex : corolla 

 hypocrateriform, gamopetalous, limb rotate, 5-parted : stamens 

 five, hypogynous, filaments connivent at the base into a lobed 

 disk : anthers linear, 2- cleft at the base : ovary ovate or oblong, 

 surmounted by the filiform style : stigmas five, filiform, inner side 

 densely beset with glands in many rows : utricle membranaceous, 

 broken irregularly at the lowest base, afterwards valvately cleft 

 from the base to the middle, valves cohering at the apex : seed 

 ovate or oblong. — Perennial herbs or shrubs : flowers sub-sessile 

 arranged in spikes, each with three bracts. 



(1) P. Zeylanica. (Linn.) 



Ment. Dec. prod. XII. p. 692. — Linn. Spec. I. 215. — Roxb. 

 flor. Ind. I. p. 463. 



Syn. P. flaccida, Mtench. — P. sarmentosa. Lam. 



Etigrav. Rheede Mai. X. t. 8.— Wight's 111. II. t. 179. 



Spec. Char. Stems shrubby, subscandent, striated, much 

 branched : leaves ovate or oblong, rather acute, shortly and abruptly 

 attenuated into a short stem-clasping petiole : rachis glandular : 

 petals cuneate, retuse : flowers white. 



Rocky places in the Concan. Travancore. Bengal. Guzerat. 

 Flowering nearly all the year . 



(2) P. cocciNEA. (Boissier.) 



Idem. Dec. prod. XII. p. 693. 



Syn. P. rosea, Li'A.n. — Thela coceinea, Lour. 



Mngrav. Rheede Mai. X. t. 9.^— Bot. Mag. t. 230. 



Spec Char. Stems herbaceous, erect, branched above : leaves 

 oblong, petiole very short by clasping the stem : flowers in terminal 

 spikes which are long, twiggy, loose, elongated after flowering and 

 rise also from the upper axils : bracts ovate, cuspidate : shorter 

 than the calyx : calyx reddish, short cylindric, shortly and acutely 

 5-toothed beset at its five ribs the whole length with stipitate 

 bifarious glands, some sub-sessile intermixed : tube of the corolla 

 hiuch longer than the calyx : flowers scarlet, or bright red. 



Southern India. Flowering nearly all the year. 



