AchyrantJm.] oxvi. amarantace^. (J. D. Hooker.) 731 



xiii. 2, 312 ; Wight Ic. 1. 1779. A. Wightiana and A. lanceolata, Wall. Cat. 

 6928, 6929. A. aspera, Wall. Oat. 6924 H. 



Tempeeate and Swbtbopicai, Himalaya; from Kishtwar, Clarice, to Sikkim, 

 Bit. 4-6000 ft., J. D. S. Khasia MtB., alt. 4-6000 ft. Behae ; top of Parus- 

 nath, Thomson. The Concan, Nilghibi and Teavanooee Mts., Wight, &c. 

 Cbiion, abundant.— Distbib. China, Java, Japan. 



Habit of A. aspera, var. porphyristaohya, and leaves often as large, but the 

 bracteoles are reduced to spines with scarcely a blade, or with a minute auricle on each 

 side of the base, and the staminodes are not fringed. It may prove a form of that 

 plant. Some Nynee-tal specimens, collected by Col. Davidson, almost with the 

 blade of the bracteoles half as long as the spine, unite them in this respect. The 

 very narrow-leaved forms (Waliichiana and lanceolata) occur in the Khasia and 

 Himalaya along with the more typical, as they do in the Deccan hills. 



4. A. diandra, Roxh.Fl.Ind. i. S04; stem slender diffusely branched, 

 leaves linear-lanceolate or linear glabrous or nearly so, spikes very slender 

 pubescent, bracteoles of a spine as long as the sepals 2-auricled at the base, 

 stamens 2, staminodes fimbriate. Centrostaohys diandra. Wall, in Boxh. 

 Fl. Ind., Ed. Carey St Wall. ii. 504 ; Mag. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2, 322 : Wight 

 Ic. t. 722. 



Ceylon j common in the warmer districts, Thmaites. 



Annual or biennial, 12-18 in. high, very much more slender than any other 

 species. Leaves 2-4 by J-f in., membranous, green. Spikes 3-6 in. ; flowers 

 distant, ^ in. long, very slender. 



undbtbeminable species. 



A. BENOALENSIS, Lamlc. Diet. i. 459 ; Moq. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2, 317. Parony. 

 chia bengalensis, Roem. S( Sohultes Sgst. v. 521, not of Jvss. lUecebrum bengalense, 

 Linn. Mant. 213. 



A. SABUENXOSA, Vahl Symh. ii. 44 ; Moq^. I. t. 318. 



16. AIiTERITAKrTKZSXtA, ForsTc. 



Herbs, usually prostrate. Lea'oes opposite. Flowers small, white, 

 capitate ; heads axillary, often clustered. Sepals unequal, anterior and 2 

 posterior flattened; 2 lateral innermost, concave. Stamens 2-5, filaments 

 short, connate into a short cup with or vsrithout interposed staminodes; 

 anthers 1-celled. Ovary orbicular or ovoid ; stigma subsessile, capitellate 

 (rarely 2-fid) ; ovule 1, pendulous from a long basal funicle. Utricle com- 

 pressed, ovoid orbicular or obcordate, margins often winged or thickened. 

 Seed inverse, lenticular, testa coriaceous ; embryo annular, cotyledons 

 narrow. — Species about 16, tropical and subtropical. 



1. A. sessills, Br. Prodr. 417 ; branches many from the root prostrate 

 or ascending, leaves linear oblong lanceolate or elhptio obtuse or subacute, 

 sepals glabrous rigid acute, anthers 2-3, utricle obcordate. Moq. in DC. 

 Prodr. xiii. 2, 357. Boiss. Fl. Orient, iv. 996 ; Dah. Sf Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 220; 

 Wight Ic. t. 727 ; Wall. Cat. 6921. A denticulata, Wall. Cat. 6922. A. 

 prostrata, Don Prodr. 86; Moq. I. c. ZQO,for the most pa/rt. Aohyranthes 

 triandra, Boxb. Fl. Ind. i. 678, and JEd. Carey Sf Wall. ii. 505. Gomphrena 

 sessihs, Linn. Sp. PI. 225. — Rheede Mort. Mai. x. 1. 11. 



Throughout hotter India and Ceylon in damp places, ascending the Himalaya 

 to 4000 ft. — Distbib. All warm countries. 



branches 3-18 in. long, glabrous, the ultimate with 2 lines of hairs ; nodes 

 often villous. Leaves 1-3 in. , in watery places even longer (4 by 1 in.), rather 

 fleshy, sometimes obscurely denticulate. Clusters J-J in. long, white, hardly glisten- 

 ing; flowers jg-^ in. long. Utricle usually broader than the perianth, very broadly 



