Spermaeoce.] kubiaoejE. 163 



the inner face without leaving any free iiaSepmeti.t.—^Bigetoteia lasiocarpat 

 W. and Am. Prod. H. Penins. i. 43V, with the synonyms there adduced. 

 ^ermacoce pudlla, StfiUaa, and S, ramosa. Wall. Catal. n. 833, 830, and 831. 

 Bigelowia graeilu, Miq. PL Hohen. Terr. Canar. Exs. n. 705 a. B. mi/riatiiAa, 

 Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. ii. 334. 



Hongkong, Wright. A common weed througliout B. India and the Archipelago, and pro- 

 hably also in eastern tropical Africa, more donhtfully in South America. To the above sy- 

 nonyms should probably he added several others of which I have not seen authentic speci- 

 mens ; alsoi as more or less marked varieties, — B. lievicaulii, Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. ii. p. 335, 

 which has an almost perfectly smooth stem, and the coroUa very small and cleft almost to 

 the base, but perhaps the few that I have seen are abnormal ; B. BoxburgMomt, W. and 

 Am. Prod. i. p. 437, which has constantly smooth stems, with the corolla very haii^ inside 

 at the throat, and ^. Natalensis, Hochst. in Flora 1844, p. 555 (Diodia elongata, E. Ktey, 

 Pi. Dr^ge Exs.), with precisely the characters of the narrow-leaved forms of 5. BoxbnrgK- 

 antt. B. Eleinii, W. and Arn. Prod. i. p.' 437, which occurs in herbaria also under the 

 name of Sp. ocgmoides, a small plant with all the leaves ovate, has a different look, but may 

 be again, as suggested, a variety of the above j and the narrow-leaved B. eryagkiides, Ch. and 

 Schl., from S. America, is very nearly allied to the commoner Indian forms of ^. strieta. 



3. S. semierecta, Boxh. Fl. Ltd. i. BIT, from his cli'moing,n. 1333. A 

 rather coarse annual of 1 or 3 ft., with long spreading 4-angled bjanches, 

 slightly rough on the angles but not hairy. Leaves ovate or ovate-laneeolate, 

 acute, 1 to 1|- in. long ; the lateral veins diverging from the midrib, vesry pro- 

 minent and very rough to the touch. Bristles of the stipules longer than 

 their sheaths. Flowers about 1 line long, in very dense, aiollary, whorl-like, 

 almost globular clusters. Capsules obovoid-globular,. about 1 line long, 

 crowned by the 4 teeth of the calyx; the 3 carpels separating in 3 valves, 

 leaving however more or less of the thin dissepiment free and persistent be- 

 tween them. — Borreria discolor, Bartl. in DC. Prod. iv. 545 ?; Benth. in Kew 

 Journ. Bot. iv, 199. 



Hongkong, Champion ; and, if the synonyms are correct, also Sumatra and the Philip- 

 pines. This is a much stiffer and coarser plant than & atricta, with a. yeUo#ish tinge, and 

 all the leaves broad, stiff, and very rough. I can find no corolla remaining on my specimens. 

 Thccalycine teeth are ve^ short, The dehiscence of the capsule is infermediate,.as it were, 

 between those of BorreiHa {BigkotBtdj and SpertlMitKe proper. In thfe former the Whole 

 dissepiment splits asunder into the two cocci, each opening sdl the way up in a longitudinal 

 slit; in Sgermaeoee proper the whole dissepiment is simple, and when the cocci separate, re- 

 mains free or attached to one of the cocci ; in the present species a portion of the dissejii- 

 inent in the centre, at the base, to about half-way up, is simple and free as in Spefmaeoce 

 proper, the remainder splits and separates with the'cocci as ia Borreria ; at least, so it is in 

 a great itiajority of the Capsules of my specimens j it may not be constantly so in the 



3, S. hispida, Li/m.; DC. Prod. iy. 555. A coarse, diffuse, little- 

 branched herb, roughly pubescent or hispid, 1 to 3 ft. long. Leaves obovate 

 or the upper ones blijoDg, ^ to 1 in. long or rarely more, obtuse, with few 

 veins, sessile or the lower ones narrowed into a petiole of 1 to 3 Unes. 

 Bristles of the stipules rather longer than their sheath. Flowers usudlly about 

 3 lines long, sessilej 3 together, or rather more in each aSil. Tube of the co- 

 rolla longer than the cajys-teeth and dilated at the top, but varyiftg consi- 

 derably in sizCi Capsule ovoid, hispid, about 3 lines long, crowned by the 4 

 calyx-teeth, separating into the 3 carpels, 1 of which is always open on the 



H 3 



