62 AMAKANTACE^. 



Tribe I. CELOSIBM— Stamens ■united at the base : anthers %-locular. 

 1. CBLOSIA, J. 



Sepals 5. Stamens 5 : basilar capule short, tootMess. Ovary mauy-ovukte. Pericarp 

 circumscissile. — Leaves alternate; flowers spicate, mth the persistent bracts coloured. 



Sect. 1. EucELOSiA. — Style filiform : stigmas 2-3, minute. Capsule included toithin 

 the calyx. — SpUte compact, simple. 



1. O. argentea, Z. Annual, glabrous; leares usually lanceolate, acuminate ;_ spiie 

 long-pedmncled, terminal, oblong-cylindrical, tapering at the top ; sepals much exceeding the 

 bracts; capsule ellipsoidal, pointed. — Desc. El. 4. t. 854. — C. paniculata, Desc. {non L). — 



' Stem about I'high; spike silvery, l"-3" long: flowers large, 4'" long.— Hab. Jamaica!, 

 Dist., Alex., and Caribbean Islands ; [East Indies !, China !, tro^cal Africa ! ; east coast of 

 tropical America]. 



Sect. 3. Lestibtjdksia. — Style tripartite or trifid, or its divisions 2-4. — Spikes 

 slender, usually inteiTupted. 



2. C. nitida, Vahl. Shrubby, glabrous ; leaves ovate, acuminate, tapering at the base ; 

 spiies short, lax, axillary and terminal, subsessile; sepals much exceeding the bracts; style 

 tripartite; capsule ellipsoidal, enclosed within the calyx. — SI. t. 91./. 1. — C. paniculata, W., 



y' Moq. {non L.). — A virgate shrub, 2'-3' high; leaves petioled; flowers yellowish-white, 2'" 

 long. — Hab. Jamaica (JSl.); Antigua!, Nichols.; [Cubal to Guadeloupe!; Texas!, Cali- 

 fornia!, Mexico !, Ecuador!]. 



2. CHAMISSOA, Kth. 



Sepals 5. Stamens 5 : basilar oupnle short, toothless. Ovary uniovulate. Pericarp cir- 

 cumscissile : seed arillate. — Leaves alternate ; flowers clustered, mth the persistent bracts 

 coloured. 



3. O. altissima, Kth, Shrubby, scandent, glabrescept ; leaves ovate, acuminate, up- 

 permost ovate-lanceolate ; spikes terminal and axillary, slender, simply divided ; sepals twice 

 as long as the inferior bract; style fiUform, bifid; capsule ovate-oblong, rounded at the top, 



^ twice as long as the calyx; arillus membranaceous, including the seed. — SI. t. 91./. 2; Kth. 

 Nov. Gen. 2. t. 135. — Achyranthes, Jacq. Celosia paniculata, Z., Sp. Ed. 2. — A shrub with 

 herbaceous branches, scandent among trees, sometimes 20' high ; leaves petioled ; flowers 

 greenish-white, li'" long: sepals and bracts keded. — Hab. 3a,mwsa.\, Dist., Al., March ; 

 Trinidad !, jScAacA, Cr.; [Cuba and Mexico to New Granada! and Brazil!]. 



3. ACHYRANTHES, Z. 



Sepals 5 (-4). Stamens 5 (-4), alternating with the appendages of the basilar cupule. 

 Ovary uniovulate : style simple, with the stigma capitate. Pericarp utricular. — Leaves oppo- 

 site ; flowers subsessile, usually arranged in elongated simple spikes, and at length reflexed, 

 cartilaginous: bracts mostly mth a spinescent midrib and a membranaoeous margin. 



4. A. aspera, L. Suffrutescent, downy or glabresoent ; leaves ovate or rounded ; spikes 

 elongated : flowers at length distant, reflexed and appressed to the downy axis ; sepals 5, con- 

 nivent, glabrous, exceeding the spreading, spinescent bracts.— &bt. Fl. Grcec. t. 244. — A 

 suffrutescent, but perhaps annual herb, very variable in the branches more or less tetragonal, 

 the down, the shape of the leaves, the proportion of the calyx and bracts, and the length of the 

 bract-awns; leaves petioled; spikes 3"-12" long; flowers greenish. The varieties, as distin- 

 guished by Linnaus, are well characterized in their usual extreme forms : but the greater 

 height, the woody texture, and the stricture of the nodes peculiar to tropical specimens may 

 be regarded as the climatic effect of a longer period of vegetation. 



a. argentea. Lam. Leaves ovate, acuminate. — A. aspera, o, Z. ; A. aspera, var. 6r. PI. 

 Carib. 

 ^ $. obtu^folia. Lam. Leaves obovate-siibrotund, mucronulate. — A. aspera, 3, Z. A. as- 

 pera, Moq. — This is the common "West Indian form, but there is no constant diffferenoe in 

 the bracts or flowers, and intermediate specimens join it with o : Sieb. PI. Mixt. n. 418. 



