435 



wings at the sides : ovary oval -with nine longitudinal ridges, seeds 

 numerous: capsule globular, six-ridged, 1 -celled, 3-valved, opening 

 from tlie top : seeds villous, oblong. 



Chittagong, flowering in the hot season. From the peculiar and 

 fantastic shapes assumed by the flowers, this plant has been called 

 " Opera girls," 



(4) G. SPATHTJIATA. (Roxb.) 



Ident. Eoxb. 1. c. p. 83, 



Spec. Chae. Panicles radical, erect, oblong, 8 — 12-iriches, 

 branches diverging : bracts oval and oblong, concave, with a larger 

 one to each branch and one to each flower : tube of the corolla 

 slender, villous, curved, border 3-lobed, lobes equal, oblong, Hp 

 cuneate, yellow : filament long, slender, recurved with a spathulate 

 diverging wing on each side near the base : anther with a semi-lunar 

 wing on each side: ovary 1-celled, many-ovuled; flowers numerous. 



Khasia hills, flowering in ApriL 



GENUS II. OOSTUS. 



9Ionand.ria IMIono^ynia. Sex! Syst: 



Deriv. From the Arabic name Gosth. 



Gen. Chae. Calyx tubular, 3-cleft ; tube of the corolla funnel- 

 shaped, outer segments of the limb equal, connivent, inner lateral 

 ones none : lip very large, campanulate, cleft at the back : filament 

 petaloid, long and broadly produced above the intra-marginal 

 anther: ovary inferior,. 3-celied: Ovules numerous, horizontal, 

 anatropal : style filiform, passing between the cells of the anther : 

 stigma bilameUate, furnished at the base with 2-small horns. — 

 Herbs with creeping tuberous roots : leaves fleshy, petiolar sheaths 

 produced above the insertion of the leaf into an obliquely truncated 

 ochrea : inflprescence spiked, terminal or rarely radical, imbricated 

 with bracts. 



(1) C. sPEciostrs. fSmUh.J 



Ident. Eoxb. flor. Ind. I. p. 69. 



Syn. Hellenia grandiflora. Rets . Amomum hirsutum, Lam. 

 Banksia speciosa, Koen. 

 Engram. Eheede Mai. xi. t. 8. Wight's Icon, t 2014. 



Spec. Chab. Stem somewhat spiral : leaves sub-sessile, spirally 

 arranged, oblong, cuspidate, softly villous beneath : bracts obovate, 

 obtuse, scarlet : flowers very large, pure white. 



Coromandel. Travancore. Western coast. Bengal. Flowering 

 in the rainy season. 



