46 



Deseriptions of Malayan Plants. 



leaves, and axillary inflorescence, form important and strik- 

 ing differences of habit. 



CYRTANDRA, Forst 



Calyx quinquepartitus. Corolla infundibuliformis, ad 

 faucem ampliata, limbo quinquelobo subirregulari, rarius 

 bilabiato. Stamina quatuor, quorum duo antherifera. Bacca 

 oblonga, calyce longior; dissepimenti lobis per totam super- 

 ficiem seminiferis. Semina nuda, saepe foveolata v. punctata. 

 Folia opposita ; altera plerumque abortivo aut nano, Flores 

 scepissime capitati involucrati, 



* Herbaceae corolla subirregulari. 



1. CYRTANDRA MACROPHYLLA. 



Tab. II. Fig. I. a—g, 



C. foliis subrotundo-ovatis serratis glabris, involucro mono- 

 phyllo, pedunculis petiolo brevioribus. 

 Selabang. Malay, 

 Native of the interior of Sumatra. 



Suberect. Branches thick, four-sided with rounded an- 

 gles, and two opposite sides deeply furrowed. Leaves 

 apparently alternate, but in reality opposite, the petioles 

 springing from the joints of the stem, perfect on one side, 

 but abortive on the other, forming nothing more than a short 

 ligula without a leaf ; subrotund-ovate, acute, serrated with 

 rounded blunt serratures, smooth on both sides, dark-green 

 above, whitish beneath, with strongly prominent nerves : a 

 foot in length by about nine inches broad. Petioles eight or 

 nine inches long, thick, embracing the stem at the joint, and 

 uniting with the base of the opposite petiole, which is only 

 one or two inches long, and tapers into a point without ever 

 expanding into a leaf. Peduncles opposite, from the axils 

 both of the perfect and abortive petioles, slender, not so 

 long as the petiole, supporting a round dense head of flowers 

 which is embraced at the base by a monophyllous, three or 



