480 cix. AOANTHAcaa!. (C. B. Clarke.) lBlep]iaris. 



89, addnced as a syn. by Sees and T. Anderson, described as from India with ciliate 

 leaves, seems more likely to have been Slepharis toerhaavuefolia, i. e. Bormaun's 

 ciliaris. 



XXI. ACAMTHVS, Linn. 



Breet or twining shrubs, or herbs. Leaves pinnatifid, toothed, spinous 

 or rarely entire. Spikes terminal or pseudo-axillary, dense strobDifonn 

 or interrupted ; bracts ovate, large spinescent, or small ; bracteoles large, 

 lanceolate, rarely ; flowers subsessile, blue or white. Sepals 4, 2 outer 

 opposite, 2 inner opposite smaller. CoroUa'tube short, ovoid, homy ; limb 

 of 2 lips, upper obsolete, loiyer elongate obovate, shortly obtusely 3-lobed. 

 Stajnens 4, ^dynamous, shorter than the lip ; filaments stout, narrowed 

 curved below the anther, not excurrent near the apex; anthers oblong, 

 1-celled, bearded. Disc 0. Ovary 4-ovnlate; style very shortly 2-fid; 

 ovules 2 in each cell. Capsule ellipsoid, compressed, shining chestnnt- 

 brown^ 4-seeded. Seeds compressed, orbicular, without hairs ; testa very 

 lax. — Species 14, in the warm and hot zones of the Old World. 



1. A. earduaceus, Cfriff. 'Itin. Notes, 144, and Ic. PL As. Or. 



t. 427 ; leaves large sessile elliptic deeply pinnatifid glabrous lobes toothed 

 spinescent, spikes long woolly, bracteoles 1 in. linear silky- woolly. T. 

 JLnders. in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 500. 



BhotaN ; Oongar, Griffith. 



A robust shrub, scandent on rocks (^Griffith). Leaves 12-20 by 6 in., black-green 

 or {Oriff. Friv. Journ. 265) flesh-coloured; lobes lanceolate. Spikes 6-12 in., 

 erowded towards the ends of the branches, and on long axillary pednncles, the leaves 

 at the base of the sessile spike being only 2-4 in. long, strobiliform, obscurely 4- 

 ranked ; bracts IJ by | in., ovate, hairy within and without, spinous ; bracteoles lan- 

 ceolate. Calyx silky, 2 outer lobes |-1 in., lanceolate one shortly 2-toothed; 2 inner 

 lobes I in., lanceolate. Corolla li in., white {Orifith), altogether as in the genus. 

 Capsule 1-li in., ellipsoid, compressed, glabrous, shining brown, 4-8eeded, much as 

 of A. ilicifoUus. 



2. A. leucostacliyas, Wall. Cat. 2fil2 ; leaves short-petioled elliptic 

 or oblong spinons-serrate slightly hairy beneath, spikes hairy, bracteoles 

 J in. linear-lanceolate hairy. Nees in Wall. PI. As. Bar. ni. 98, and in 

 DC. Prodr. xi. 270; T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 501. 



KhabiaMts., alt. 0-3000 ft., frequent; Wallioh.ka. Namroop in the Patkoyb 

 Mts., Oriffith. Cachae; Keenan. 



Stem 6-15 in. , decumbent, viscons- woolly. Leaves 8 by 3 J in., cuneate at both 

 ends, whitened beneath ; nerves beneath viscons-pubescent, prominently reticulate ; 

 petiole f in., woolly. Spikes 3-6 in., mostly terminal, solitary ; bracts |-1 by ^ in., 

 elliptic, spinons-toothed, hairy on both sides. Calt/x softly hairy j 2 outer lobes 

 f in., one shortly 2-toothed ; 2 inner J-J in., sublinear. Corolla | in., white (Nees). 

 Capsule J-f in., ellipsoid, compressed, glabrous, shining-brown, 4-seeded. — The cap- 

 sule and seeds greatly resemble A, ilicifoUus, but are not ripe. 



3. A. long'ipetiolatus, Xurz For. Fl. ii. 241 ; leaves long-petioled 

 ovate subserrate pubescent on the nerves beneath, bracts obovate spinoua- 

 toothed softly hairy, corolla 1^ in. nearly glabrous. 



PiGU ; Brandts (Herb. Zurz). 



Stem 1 foot, rather stout, decumbent, rooting, then erect, simple, msty-pnbescent. 

 Leaves 6J by 3^ in., cuneate subacute at both ends, serratures very shallow not spines- 

 cent ; petiole nearly 2 in. Spike solitary, simple, 5i by IJ in., continuoas ; pedun- 

 cle ^ in., stout, pubescent; bracts J by Jin., teeth few, large; bracteoles 1 in., 

 linear-subulate, hairy. Sepals 5, softly hairy ; one li by ^ in. oblong obtuse, two 



