1146 
XCIII. ACANTHACE2E. 
[. Ruellia . 
times that length, and always longer than the fruit. Bracteoles none. Calyx- 
segments 4 to 5 lines long. Corolla-tube about 4in. long, not much dilated, the 
lobes about half as long as the tube. Stamens of R. australis. Capsule 6 to 8 
lines long, 2-celled from the base. — Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 154. 
Ilab.: Bustard Bay, Bay of Inlets and Cape Grafton, Banks and Solander; Poit Denison, 
Fitzalan ; Burdekin River, F. v. Mueller; Suttor Kiver, Thozet ; Broadsound, Bowman ; Bogee 
River, Dallacluj, 
6. ACANTHUS, Linn. 
(In reference to some species being spiny). 
(Dilivaria, Juss.) 
Calyx divided to the base into 4 distinct segments or sepals. Corolla with 
a very short tube ; the upper lip short and truncate or entirely wanting, the 
lower lip large entire or 3-lobed. Stamens 4, exserted ; anthers 1-celled, hirsute 
or ciliate. Ovules 2 in each cell of the ovary. Capsule 2-celled from the base. 
Seeds large, flat ; retinacula thick. — -Herbs or shrubs. Leaves usually prickly- 
toothed. Flowers in bracteate spikes. 
A small genus, spread over tropical Asia, Africa, and southern Europe. The only Australian 
species is a common maritime plant in tropical Asia. 
1. A. ilicifolius (Holly-leaved), Linn.; T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. ix. 
511 ; Benth. FI. Austr. iv. 548. An erect glabrous shrub of several feet. 
Leaves sessile or nearly so, oval or broadly oblong, 4 to 8in. long, coriaceous and 
shining when full grown, bordered with undulate prickly teeth or short lobes or 
rarely entire, with a pair of divaricate short prickles at their base in the place of 
stipules, sometimes 4 or 5 lines long, sometimes very short or entirely wanting. 
Spikes terminal or in the upper axils, 6in. to 1ft. long. Bracts ovate, acute or 
obtuse, often at least half as long as the calyx ; bracteoles similar but smaller, 
sometimes very small or wanting. Calyx-segments or sepals oblong, coriaceous, 
the 2 outer ones G to 8 lines long, the 2 inner ones smaller. Corolla blue, upper lip 
exceedingly short truncate and coriaceous, the lower expanded into an obovate 
entire or shortly 3-lobed limb of above lin. Filaments, hard, thick and shining, 
more tahn half as long as the lower lip. Anthers 3 to 4 lines long, very densely 
ciliate-hirsute. Capsule f to lin. long, coriaceous, shining, very obtuse. — R. 
Br. Prod. 480; Dilivaria ilicifolia, Juss.; Nees in DC. Prod. xi. 268 ; Wight, Ic. 
t. 459. 
Hab.: Gulf of Carpentaria, B. Brown ; Cape York, Dcemel ; Endeavour River, Banks 
and Solander; Cape Conway, A. Cunningham ; Rockhampton, O’Slianesy , Thozet. Common in 
most northern coastal swamps. 
7. ASYSTASIA, Blume. 
(Derivation obscure.) 
Calyx deeply divided into 5 narrow segments. Corolla-tube short or long, 
funnel-shaped, ventricose or narrow ; lobes 5, sub-equal, imbricate in the bud. 
Stamens 4, all perfect, didynamus, subequal ; anthers oblong, cells parallel, 
approximate, base minutely spurred or submuticus, the points only obscurely 
whitened. Ovary 4-ovulate, very hairy ; stigma minutely bifid or subcapitate. 
Capsule elliptic, 4-seeded, base contracted, solid. Seeds compressed, orbicular 
or irregularly angular, rugose or tubercular, glabrous. Herbs or undershrubs, 
with entire leaves. Spikes or racemes lax or dense, simple or compound, 1-sided 
or suberect ; bracts and bracteoles linear, usually shorter than the calyx ; 
flowers opposite or alternate, usually solitary, blue, purple, rose, or yellow. 
The species of this genus are met with in tropical Asia and South Africa, but not to my 
knowledge in Australia until I met with the species, here described, on Thursday Island. 
