18 



(5) C. PTRAMIDAIIS. (Moq.) 



Dee. 1. c. p. 248. 



S^n. Celosia pyramidalis, Burm. — C. albida, Willd. — Cha- 

 missoa albida, Mart. 



Mngrav. Burm. Ind. t. 25. fig. 1. 



Spec. Chae. Stem herbaceous, erect or ascending, somewhat 

 branched : leaves subpetioled, lanceolate, attenuated towards the 

 base : heads of flowers dense, terminal and lateral, long-pedun- 

 cled, oblong-conical : flowers subsessile : sepals somewhat ex- 

 ceeding the bracts, acute, keeled, 1-nerved : utricles oblong. 



Coromandel coast. 



GENUS IV. AMAEANTHUS. 



monoecia Pentandria* Sex : Syst .- 



Deriv. From A, derivative, and Maraino, to wither, referring 

 to the length of time the flowers retain their bright colours. 



Gen. Chak. Flowers monoecious, tribracteate : sepals 5, equal : 

 stamens free : anthers 2-celled : ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled : style 

 none: stigmas 2 — 3, spreading: fruit a utricle, ovate, 2 — 3- 

 beaked at the apex, 1-seeded, imperfectly enclosed in the calyx : 

 pericarp often membranaceous, capsular : seed kidney-shaped : 

 arU none. — Erect or-difiuse herbs: leaves alternate, decurrent 

 into the petiole, apiculated with a small incurved or straight 

 point: flowers minute, purplish, reddish-brown, or green, col- 

 lected in terminal panicled spikes or axiUary clusters : bracts 

 keeled, concave, persistent. 



(1) A. spiNOSTTS. {Linn.) 



Ident. Dec. 1. c. p. 260.— Eoxb. Elor. Ind. III. p. 611. 



Engrav. "Wight's Icon. t. 513. — Eumph. Amb. V. t. 83. 

 fig. 1. 



Spec. Chab. Erect, 1 — 3 feet, somewhat striated, very gla- 

 brous, reddish: leaves long-petioled, rhomb-ovate or lanceolate- 

 oblong, obtuse, with 2 spines in the axils : panicles sparingly 

 branched: spikes erect, cylindriB, acute, terminal ones long, 

 Btiffish, lateral ones middle-sized, somewhat distant : fiowers dense, 

 green : calyx nearly equalling the bracts : utricles 2 — 3-cleft at 

 the top, somewhat wrinkled : bracts unequal, bearded : seed len- 

 ticular, polished, black. 



Peninsula. Bengal. Malabar coast. Flowering in the cool 

 and rainy season. 



