376 COMMELYNACE^. [Commelyna. 



Spatha cordate, folded, falcate, glabrous. 



Spatha acuminate. Sessile petal very broad 1- ^- salunfolif. 



Spatha scarcely acuminate. Sessile petal ovate or ianceolate . . 2. I/, eommums. 

 Spatha turbinate, peltate (a tlattened inverted oblique or falcate cone, 



open at the top only), pubescent 3. C. hmghaUnm. 



1. C. salicifolia, IU)xb. Fl. Ind. i. 172 ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 39. Stems 

 creeping at the base, branching and ascending to 1 ft. or more, the whole plant 

 glabrous. Leaves usuaUy lanceolate, 2 to 3 in. long; or the lower ones smaU 

 and ovate, the sheaths ciliate on the edge. Bracts cordate, folded, much fal- 

 cate, usually acuminate. Lower peduncle usually 1-flowered, the upper one 

 short, about 3-flowered. Petals nearly orbicular, 2-clawed, the third nearly 

 sessile. Sterile anthers with distinct orange-coloured cells spurred at the base ; 

 fertile ones parallel-celled, one much larger. — C. ctespitosa, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. i. 

 174 ? C. ochreata, Schauer in PI. Meyen. 447. 



Hongkong, Wright. Common in India and io the Archipelago. Wilford gathered a 

 variety in which the lower pednncle in each spatha appears to be constantly without flowers, 

 which would remove it to another section of Kunth's, bnt I can find no other difference in 

 the specimens. 



2. C. communis, lAnn. ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 36. Very near the last, 

 but the leaves are usually shorter and less acuminate, their sheaths shorter and 

 scarcely ciliate, the spathas also shorter and rather acute than acuminate, the 

 flowers rather smaller, 2 of the petals have longer claws, and the sessile one is 

 ovate or lanceolate, not nearly so broad as the others. 



Hongkong, Eance ? A common species in India and the Archipelago, to which I believe 

 Hance's specimen has been correctly referred, although I have been unable to examine any 

 flower. 



3. C. benghalensis, Linn. ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 50 ; Wight, Ic. t. 2065. 

 A creeping pale-green perennial, more or less hairy or pubescent, especially on 

 the bracts. Leaves usually ovate, 1 to a in. long, more rarely lanceolate and 

 longer, the sheaths and petioles ciliate. Spathas opposite the upper leaves, 

 or 2 to 4 together above them, with thcN subtending leaves reduced to short 

 sheaths, broadly turbinate and compressed, the margins united, so as to form 

 an inverted cone open at the top, and oblique or somewhat falcate. Lower 

 peduncle longer than the spatha, with 1 male flower, upper one shorter, with 

 2 or 3 hermaphrodite flowers. — C. canescens, Vahl ; C. Blumei, Dietr. ; C. mol- 

 lis, Jacq., and perhaps some others of Kunth, Enum. iv. 49 to 52. 



Hongkong, Sande, Wright. Widely spread over tropical Asia, Africa, and America, 

 although apparently not so common in India as the two last species. 



2. AlfEILEMA, Br. 



Mowers nearly regular. Perianth-segments fi-ee. Stamens 6 or 4, of 

 which, 3 or 2 have differently shaped ban-en anthers. • Ovary 3-ceEed, with 2 

 to 5 ovules in each cell. Capsule 3-valved.— Flowers usually small, in ter- 

 minal panicles. Bracts small. 



A considerable genus, dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions of the New and 

 the Old World. ' ^ 



1. A. nudiflorum, Br. ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 66. A slender diffuse or 

 creeping glabrous annual (perhaps occasionally forming biennial tufts) ascend- 

 ing to 6 in. or rather more. Leaves lanceolate, 1 to 2 in. long, with short 



