Ruellia .] 
XCIII. ACANTHACE.E. 
1145 
3. R. corynotheca (capsule club-shaped), F. v. M. Herb.; Benth. FI. Austr. 
iv. 546. A perennial, usually shortly scabrous-pubescent, with rather slender, 
decumbent or erect stems of 6in. to nearly 1ft. Leaves petiolate, mostly ovate 
and small, often under fin. and rarely lin. long. Flowers nearly sessile in the 
upper axils. Bracteoles oblong-linear or oblong, contracted at the base, longer 
than the calyx. Calyx If to 2 lines long, the segments united at the base. 
Corolla-tube 3 to 4 lines long, gradually dilated upwards, the lobes fully half as 
long as the tube. Capsule clavate, about fin. long, the lower portion contracted 
and seedless, 2 lines broad above the middle. Seeds about 4 in each cell, rather 
large, all attached very near the middle of the capsule. 
Hab.: Burdekin River, F. v. Mueller; Suttor River, Bowman, Dorsay ; Peak Downs, 
Burket (F. v. M.). 
Very near the E. Indian B. patula , Jacq., but the corolla-tube appears to be shorter and not 
so slender, and there may be a few other trifling differences. — Benth. 
4. R. australis (southern), B. Br. Prod. 479 ; Benth. FI. Austr. iv. 547. 
A small parennial with erect or diffuse branching stems often under 6in. but 
sometimes nearly lit. long, hirsute as well as the foliage or nearly glabrous. 
Leaves from obovate or oblong or under fin. to oblong lanceolate and 2in. long, 
narrowed into a petiole. Flowers blue, axillary, sessile or very shortly 
pedicellate, with narrow bracteoles shorter than or very rarely as long as the 
calyx. Calyx-segments subulate-acuminate, 3 to 4 or even 5 lines long. Corolla- 
tube exceeding the calyx, gradually but considerably enlarged upwards ; lobes 
spreading, more than half as long and sometimes nearly as long as the tube. 
Stamens inserted near the base of the tube and the anthers scarcely reaching 
above the middle. Capsule about fin. long, mucronate, linear, not enlarged 
upwards, and usually 2-celled from the base. Seeds about 6 in each cell. — Cav. 
Ic. vi. 62, t. 586 ; Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 151 as to Brown’s synonym, but not the 
plant described ; Cnjphiacanthus australis, Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 198. 
Hab.: Bay of Inlets, Banks aud Solander ; Thirsty Sound and Keppel Bay, R. Brown; 
Cape York, M'Gillivray ; Rockhampton, Dallachy ; Warwick, Beckler. 
Yar. scabra. A coarse form. Leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, rigid and scabrous. — Capsule 
rather larger. — Gilbert River, F. v. Mueller ; Armadilla, Barton. 
Var. pumila. Very small and neally glabrous. Leaves mostly oblong. — R. pumilio, R. Br. 
Prod 479; Dipter acanthus pumilio, Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 124. — Burdekin River, F. v. Mueller ; 
Rockhampton, O'Slianesy ; Darling Downs, Law; Armadilla, Barton. 
5. St. spiciflora (inflorescence in spikes), F. v. M. Herb. ; Benth. FI. Austr. 
iv. 547, Stems creeping and rooting at the base, ascending, under lit. long in 
the specimens seen, loosely pubescent as well as tbe veins of the leaves under- 
neath. Leaves petiolate, ovate or oblong, those of each pair very unequal, the 
larger one 1 to 2in. long. Flowers distant, along slender axillarv peduncles, 
forming interrupted spikes, each one sessile within a small linear-setaceous bract 
with still smaller bracteoles. Calyx-segments linear setaceous. Corolla-tube 
rather broad, nearly fin. long, the lobes about half as long as the tube. Stamens 
short. Capsule nearly fid. long, apparently like that of R. australis, but not 
seen ripe. 
Hab.: Archer’s Creek, Leichhardt. 
The habit of the plant is that of Asy stasia gangetica, T. Anders. (A. coromandeliana, Nees), 
but the contorted corolla-lobes and the stamens are those of Ruellia australis. — Benth. 
6. It. acaulis (stemless), R. Br. Prod. 479 ; Benth. FI. Austr. iv. 547. A 
dwarf almost stemless hirsute perennial, with a short branching stock, rarely 
emitting a few rather longer decumbent stems. Leaves mostly radical or nearly 
so, petiolate, oval-elliptical to oblong, obtuse, from under lin. to nearly 2in. 
long. Flowers on pedicels varying from about the length of the calyx to three 
