1656 CXXXiX. COMMELINACE^. [Floscopa. 



Bmall terminal stigma. Capsule shortly stipitate, compressed, didymous, opening 

 In 2 valves. Seeds solitary in each cell, laterally attached.— Erect or ascending 

 herbs, usually creeping at the base. Flowers small, pedidellate and racemose 

 along the branches of a dense terminal panicle. 



The genus is extensively dispersed over the tropical regions of the New as Well as the Old 

 World, and consists of but very few species, the majority of those published being reducible 

 •to the single Australian one which extends over the whole area of the genus. — Benth. 



1. P. paniculata (paniculate), Hassk. PL Jungh. 151; Benth. Fl. Austr. 

 viii. 89. Stems ascending to 1 or 2ft., usually glabrous. Leaves lanceolate or 

 -ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 2 to 4in. long, scabrous on the upper side, the sheath 

 fringed with long hairs, at least at the top. Flowers small, in a dense terminal 

 ovate or broad hirsute panicle, IJ to 2in. long, sometimes leafy at the base, the 

 branches simple or the lower ones forked. Outer perianth-segments very hairy, 

 1 line long or rather more, inner ones but little longer, bright blue. Stamens 

 exserted. — Tradescantia paniculata, Roxb. Corom. PI. t. 109 ; also the several 

 Dithjvocarpi figured by Wight, Ic. t. 2079 and 2080, or described by Kunth, 

 Bnum. iv. 78 and 79, and other synonyms, quoted in Benth. Fl. Hongk. 377. 



Hab.: Eo'kinghara Bay, common, Dallachy ; Daintree Biver, Fitzalan; Islands of Torres 

 Straits. Widely diffused over tropical Asia, Africa and Brazil. 



6. CARTONEMA, E. Br. 



(Alluding to the short filament.) 



Perianth-segments all free, 3 outer ones herbaceous, lanceolate, 3 inner very 

 broad, petal-like, sessile, withering after flowering but persistent. Stamens 6, 

 nearly equal ; anthers oblong or rarely short, opening in terminal pores at length 



■continued into lateral slits. Ovary B-eelled, with 2 superposed ovules in each 

 cell. Style filiform, with a small terminal pedicellate stigma. Capsule 3-valved. 

 — Herbs with leafy stems, simple or branched at the base. Leaves narrow. 

 Flowers in simple terminal spikes or racemes, solitary within small or narrow 



Hbracts. 



The genus is limited to Australia, and contains five species, all except one belonging to 

 ■Queeuslaud. 



'Inflorescence racemose, glandular; flowers distant. Filaments 3 limes 



longer than the anther 1. C Baileyi. 



-Spikes dense. Outer perianth-segments 6 to 7 lines long. Filaments 



narrow. Anthers narrow, oblong 2. C. spicatum. 



Spikes elongated, the flowers all distant. Outer perianth-segments 



3 to 4 lines long. Filaments shorter than tte anthers 3. C. parviflorum. 



Spikes dense. Outer peridoth-segments 3 to 4 lines long. Anthers 

 ovate, much shorter than the filaments . . 4. C brachyantherum. 



1. C. Baileyi (after J. F. Bailey), Bail. A slender weak plant, the stem 

 only a few in. high, with a slight pubescence and dotted with numerous red 

 glands. Leaves narrow and grass-like with a long rather loose sheathing base, 

 nearly glabrous but glandular like the stem. Inflorescence terminal in elongated 

 •but slightly branched racemose-panicles about 6in. long. Flowers distant, 

 pedicels rather stout, 1^ line long, bracts lanceolate long as the pedicels. Outer 

 perianth-segments 2 lines long, striate glandular and hairy on the back, the 

 points often elongated, margins scarious. Inner perianth-segments shorter and 

 broader than the outer, white, the parallel longitudinal veins very prominent, 

 turning reddish in the faded flowers. Filaments glabrous, flat, very thin, 3 times 

 longer than the anthers. Anthers wavy. Capsule glabrous, the valves with 

 ■elongated points. Seeds flat, coral-like, almost white, punctate in transverse 

 rows. 



Hab.: Weipa, Embley Eiver, J. F. B., June 1901. 



This species approaches one given in DO. Monogr. Phanerog. iii. 264, as Cartonema tenui. 



