1218 
C. AMARANTACEAfl. 
1. CELOSI A, Linn. 
(In reference to the burnt-like appearance of the flowers of some species.) 
Flowers hermaphrodite, bracteate also with 2 bracteoles. Perianth scarious, 
5-parted, segments oblong or lanceolate, obtuse or acute, striate, the fruit erect. 
Stamens 5 ; filaments subulate or filiform, connate in a membranous cup at the 
base ; anthers short or elongated, 2-celled. Ovary ovoid, subglobose, or bottle- 
shaped. Style none, short or elongated. Ovules 2 or more ; funicle elongated : 
utricle included in the perianth or exserted, ovoid or globose, opening by a rupture 
across the middle or indehiseent. — Herbs or annuals. 
The species are of tropical Asia, Africa and America. 
1. C. argentea (silvery), Linn. Moq. in DC. Prod. xiii. ii. 242. An erect 
glabrous annual, 1 to 3 or 5ft. high. Leaves petiolate, from ovate to lanceolate 
or linear, acuminate, 1 to bin. long, green on both sides. Spikes few or many, 
cylindrical 1 to 8in. long and about lin. broad; peduncles slender. Perianth- 
segments white and scarious, lanceolate, about 4 lines long, bracts similar but 
smaller. — Wight Ic. 1767. 
Var. cristata, Rheede Hort. Mai. x. t. 38, 39. “ Cock’s-comb.” Spikes more or less dillated 
at the top or variously branched, and usually on a shorter peduncle. Flowers often smaller, 
and many of them barren. — C. cristata, Linn.; C. cernua, Roxb. ; Wight, Ic. 730; C. 
pyramidalis, Bunn. FI. Ind. 65, t. 25. 
Hab.: The native country of this much cultivated plant is uncertain. Met with as a stray 
from cultivation. 
2. DEERINGIA, E. Br. 
(After Dr. Charles Deering.) 
Flowers hermaphrodite or dioecious. Perianth of 5 equal glabrous segments 
spreading under the fruit. Stamens 5, shortly united in a ring at the base, 
without intervening staminodia. Anthers 2-celled. Ovary with several ovules. 
Styles 3 rarely 4, few and stigmatic from the base. Fruit enlarged, succulent, 
indehiseent. Seeds several. — Tall tvoody climbers, glabrous or rusty-pubescent. 
Leaves alternate. Flowers numerous, loosely spicate, the spikes in axillary or 
terminal panicles. Bracts and bracteoles small, scarious or petal-like. 
The genus is widely spread over tropical Asia, more sparingly extending into Africa. Of the 
two Australian species one is the same as the commonest Asiatic one, the other is endemic. 
Quite glabrous. Flowers hermaphrodite 1. D. celosioides. 
Branches and young leaves pubescent. Flowers dioecious (the ovaries of the 
males without ovules) 2. D. altissima. 
1. B. celosioides (CHosia-like), R. Br. Prod. 413; Benth. FI. Austr 
v. 209. A woody glabrous climber scrambling over bushes to the height 
of 10 or 12ft. Leaves petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 
entire, mostly 2 to 3in. long. Flowers hermaphrodite, solitary or some- 
what clustered, in slender interrupted spikes varying from 2 or 3 to 8 or 
lOin. long, either in the upper axils or in a loose terminal panicle, each flower 
nearly sessile in the axil of a small linear-lanceolate acute bract, shorter than 
the perianth, except sometimes in the lower part of the spike, and accompanied 
by two smaller bracteoles. Perianth-segments ovate, scarcely 1 line long, of a 
greenish white when fresh, black with a whitish margin when dry. Stamens 
united at the base in a prominent ring or very short cap. Berry red, nearly 
globular, 3-furrowed, usually about 2 lines diameter or rather larger. — Bot. Mag. 
t. 2717 ; Endl. Iconogr. t. 62 ; Wight Ic. PI. t. 728 ; D. baccata, Moq. in DC. 
Prod. xiii. ii. 236 ; Rumph. Herb. Amb. v, t. 83, f. 2. 
Hab.: Shoalwater and Keppel Bays and Broadsound, R. Brown; Endeavour River, A. 
Cunningham; Barnard Isles, M'Gillivray ; Port Denison, Fitzalan ; Rockingham Bay, 
Dallachy ; Rockhampton, Dallachy and others ; Darling Downs, Lau; Brisbane River, Moreton 
Bay, F. v. Mueller and others. 
The fungus .Ecidium Deeringire, Cke. and Mass, is found on the leaves of this species. 
The species is common in E. India and the Archipelago, extending to New Caledonia and 
China. 
