1650 CXXXIX. COMMELINACEiE. 



rarely in terminal pores ; staminodia when substituted for stamens all on ona 

 side of the flower, not alternating with the perfect stamens. Ovary 8-celled or 

 rarely 2-celled, with 1, 2, or more orthotropous ovules in each cell, laterally 

 attached to the inner angle and when several superposed in 1 or 2 rows. Style 

 simple, with a terminal entire or 3-lobed stigma. Fruit a capsule or rarely 

 indehiseent though dry. Seeds thick, peltate or angula*, the testa often ^wrinkled 

 or reticulate. Embryo small, partly sunk in the side of the fleshy albumen 

 remote from the hilum, and usually covered by a small deciduous operculum, — 

 Herbs erect or more frequently weak or creeping at the base, rarely in species not 

 Australian twiners, or tall and almost shrubby. Leaves parallel-veined, with 

 sheathing bases. Flowers usually blue, purple, or white, in panicles, umbels, or 

 clusters, either terminal or issuing from the leaf-sheaths on the side of the stem 

 opposed to the leaf. 



The Order is chiefly tropical or subtropical, and is common to the New and the Old World. 

 Of the six Australian genera, three are spread over both hemispheres, one is limited to the Old 

 World, one to the Indo-Australian region, and one only is endemic in Australia. — Bentli. 



Teiee I. Pollleae. — Fruit indehiseent, cnistaceotis. 



Panicle terminal, of scorpioid cymes 1. Pollia. 



Tbibe II. Commelinas,— Capsule loculicidal. Stamens 5 perfect, with \ to 3 staminodia. 



Cymes solitary, included in a spatha. Ovary 3-celled, cells 1 to 2 ovulate . . 2. Comihelina. 

 Cymes nalied, paniculate, rarely in a spatha 3. Aneilema. 



Tribe III. Tradescantieae. — Capsule loculicidal. Stamens 6 perfect. 



Cymes from imbricating bracts, scorpioid or 1 or few flowered, corolla tubular 

 below , .4. Ctanotis. 



Flowers paniculate. Stems erect 5. Floscopa. 



No spatha. Flowers usually in spikes. Outer segments herbaceous. 



Ovary 8-celled 6. Cartonema. 



1. POLLIA, Thunb. 



(Aclisia, E. Mey. Lamprocarpus, Blume). 



Perianth-segments all free, 3 outer ones membranous, thin, very broad and 

 much imbricate, 3 inner petal-like, obovate, nearly equal. Stamens 6, somewhat 

 declinate, all perfect or the 3 upper ones reduced to staminodia with small empty 

 anthers ; perfect anthers ovate, emarginate at the base, the cells opening in longi* 

 tudinal slits. Ovary 3-eelled with several ovules in each cell superposed in 2 

 rows ; style subulate, with a small stigma. Fruit ovoid or globular, usually blue' 

 and shining, indehiseent but dry with a brittle pericarp. Seeds angular, with a> 

 brown testa. — Tall perennials, usually weak and creeping at the base. Leaves^ 

 large. Flowers in terminal thyrsoid panicles, the primary branches often forming 

 clusters almost whorled. Bracts all shorter than the flowers. 



The genus extends over tropical and eastern subtropical Asia. Of the two Australian species- 

 one is endemic, the other reaches the Solomon Islands. 



Margin of the leaf-sheaths and leaves quite entire. Branches of the 

 oblong panicle in distinct clusters or whorls 1. P. macrophylla^ 



Margin of the leaf-sheaths and base of the petiole undulate crisped. 

 Branches of the short sessile panicle densely crowded 2. P. cnspata. 



1. P. macrophylla (leaves long), Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 90. Quite glabrous^ 

 Stems creeping and rooting at the lower joints, ascending or erect to the height 

 of several feet. Leaves broadly lanceolate, acuminate, mostly 6 to Sin. long^ 

 tapering into a short petiole above the sheath, the margin not at all waved, the 

 sheath loosely cylindrical, ^ to lin. long, the orifice oblique and quite entire, the 

 uppermost leaf usually sessile and stem-clasping almost without any sheath. 

 Panicle shortly pedunculate above the last leaf, oblong, 3 to 4in. long, the 

 branches collected in distinct clusters almost verticillate, each branch rarely 

 above |in. long, bearing several flowers on short slender pedicels. Bracts lanceo- 



