ACANTHACEAE. 



77 



Hemigraphis. — The plants of this genus are only of botanical interest — 

 repanckt and stenophylla are sometimes grown as hanging basket 

 plants. 



angUStifolia, Hallier, f. (fig. "Nov. Act. Nat. Cur." lxx. 203, t. x. 

 fig. 2). — Malaya, Amboyna, &c. Herb, erect; leaves 5 inches long 

 by 1 inch broad, lanceolate, irregularly and deeply serrated or 

 shortly pinnatifid, attenuate at base ; apex acuminate ; spikes ter- 

 minal ; heads strobiliform ; bracts imbricate, ovate, obtuse, entire. 



COlorata, Nees, DO. " Prod." xi. 145 ; (fig. Hallier, f., " Nov. Act. 

 Nat. Cur." lxx., t. ix. fig. 1). — Java. A small spreading plant. 

 Leaves cordate-ovate, bullate, crenate, silvery-grey above, purple 

 underneath ; spikes terminal ; flowers small, white, ^ inch long. 



The flowers are insignificant, but the species is sometimes grown 

 for its pretty foliage. 



latebrosa, Nees, DC. "Prod." xi. 723 ; (fig. "Bot. Mag." t, 3389, as 

 Buellia elegans). — India. A diffuse hairy plant. Leaves ovate, 

 crenate ; flowers bright blue ; corolla-tube narrow, funnel-shaped, 

 J inch long. An annual, sometimes grown for its blue flowers, 

 but mainly of botanical interest. 



repanda, L., " Sp." ed. 2 (1762), p. 886.— Prostrate herb. Leaves 

 decussate, long-petioled, narrow-linear, lobate, crenate ; spikes 

 solitary or ternate, axillary or terminal ; heads of flowers strobili- 

 form ; bracts subspathulate-linear, subentire ; corolla narrow- 

 infundibuliform, hairy within the lips. 



Stenophylla, Hallier, f. (fig. "Nov. Act. Nat. Cur." lxx. 203, t. x. 

 fig. 3). — Celebes, &c. Leaves linear, 8-10 inches long, \ inch broad, 

 repand, scalloped ; spikes elongate ; bracts loose ; corolla narrow- 

 infundibuliform. 



Hygrophila 



spinosa, Anders., " Jour. Linn. Soc." vii. 22 ; (fig. Wight " Icones," 

 t. 449). — India. A stout, erect, hispid, spinescent herb ; leaves 

 lanceolate, up to 7 inches long, furnished with long white hairs ; 

 flowers in axillary, spinous whorls, spines about 6, straight and 

 stout ; bracts up to 1 inch long, lanceolate ; bracteoles J inch 

 long, narrow ; calyx 4-parted ; corolla 1 inch long, blue-purple, 

 nearly glabrous, tube ventricose at the apex, limb deeply 2-lipped, 

 oblong, straight. Syn. Barberia longifolia Linn. A very common 

 ditch plant in India. Scarcely of more than botanical interest. 

 Hypoestes 



aristata, E. Br., "Prod." 474; (fig. "Bot. Mag." t. 6234).— South 

 Africa. Herb, erect ; stem obtusely quadrangular ; leaves petioled, 

 ovate, acute, entire, 3 inches long; flowers in axillary clusters 

 forming stout, terminal spikes, enclosed 1-3 in an involucre of 

 two lanceolate, concave, long-awned bracts ; corolla 1 inch long, 

 rose-purple, tube slender, pubescent, expanding into a sub- cam - 

 panulate throat, the lobes shorter than the tube, upper one elliptic, 

 cleft to the middle into 3 acute lobes, the lateral ones striped, the 

 middle one spotted with purple, lower lobe much smaller, linear- 

 lanceolate, erect, revolute, striped with white. A very pretty green- 

 house plant. 



