LlII. LYTHRARIErE. 
673 
Ammannia.] 
A considerable genus, chiefly tropical and Asiatic or African, with a few species from tropical 
or Northern America, or from more temperate Asia. — Benth. 
Subgenus I. Rotala. — Flowers axillary, solitary, or in sessile spikes. Capsule 2 to 4-r alved. 
Leaves narrow, in whorls of 3 to 8. Capsule 3 or 4-valved 1. A. Rotala. 
Leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong, opposite or rarely in threes. Capsule 3 or 
4-valved 2 .A. pentandra. 
Leaves orbicular, opposite. Capsule 2-valved '6. A. diandra. 
Subgenus II. Eu- Ammannia. — Flowers in whorls, cymes or clusters. Capsule circumsciss, 
or bursting irregularly. 
Flowers 1 to 3, on short axillary peduncles. Leaves broadly oblong, petiolate. 
No petals 4. A. trijlora. 
Flowers several in axillary cymes. 
Leaves narrowed at the base. Calyx-lobes triangular. No petals . . . . 5. A. indica. 
Leaves dilated or cordate, auriculate at the base. Calyx-teeth very short. 
Petals present. 
Capsule under 1 line diameter. Stamens 4 or fewer . . . 6. A. multiflora. 
Capsule about line diameter. Stamens above 4, usually 6 to 8 . . . 7. A. auriculata. 
1. A. Rotala (generic name), F. r. M. Frag in. iii. 108 ; Benth . FI. Austr. 
iii. ‘295. A slender annual, simple or slightly branched, often creeping at the 
base, and not above Bin. long in the Australian specimens, twice as much in 
some Indian ones. Leaves in whorls of 8 to 6 or sometimes more, linear, not 
exceeding 3 or 4 lines. Flowers minute, nearly sessile and solitary in the axils. 
Calyx smooth and membranous, not above A line diameter, with 5 or sometimes 
4 or 3 acute teeth without accessory ones. Petals none or minute and fugacious 
in the Australian specimens, nearly as long as the calyx-teeth in some Indian 
ones. Stamens 3 (4 or 5 ?), inserted near the base of the calyx and not exceeding 
it. Ovary 1-celled or more or less divided into 3 by very thin evanescent parti- 
tions. Style short. Capsule 8-valved. — Rotala certicillaris, Linn. Mant. 195 ; 
DC. Prod. iii. 76 ; Wight, Ic. t. 260 ; Rotala apetala, F. v. M. Fragm. iii. 108. 
Hab.: Bundaberg, J. Keys. 
Spread over E. India and the Archipelago. 
2. A. pentandra (five-stamened), Ro.rh. FI. hul. i. 427 ; Benth. FI. Austr. 
iii. 296. Annual or perhaps a perennial of short duration, often shortly creeping 
at the base, with ascending or erect stems, 6 to 8in. high and scarcely branched 
when luxuriant, but often only 2 or 3in. and much branched. Leaves opposite 
or very rarely the floral ones in threes, from ovate cordate to oblong and almost 
cuneate, acute or obtuse, the larger ones ^in. long, but usually not above |-in., the 
floral ones always exceeding the flowers. Flowers solitary in the axils, sessile or 
nearly so. Calyx scarcely above ^ line diameter, with 5 or rarely 4 or 3 short 
lobes, without accessory teeth. Petals very small or none. Stamens 5, or some- 
times 4 or 3, inserted near the base of the calyx and not exceeding its lobes. 
Capsule opening in 3 or rarely 4 valves.— DC. Prod. iii. 79 ; W. and Am. Prod. 
305, with the synonyms adduced; Blume, Mus. Bot. ii. t. 46; Rotala Ro.v- 
burghiana, Wight, Ic. t. 260. 
Hab.: Endeavour ltiver, R. Brown; waterholes, Moreton Bay, C. Stuart; Lynd River, L. 
Leichhardt. 
Var. decussata. Smaller and more branched. Petals usually none.— Rotala decussata, DC. 
Prod, iii. 76 ; Ortegioides decussata, Soland. in Herb. Banks ; Entelia amrnannioides, R. Br. 
Herb.; Ammannia illecebroides, Arn. in Wight, Cat. n. 2317. Hab.: Islands of the Gulf of 
Carpentaria and Shoalwater Bay, R. Brown; E. coast, Banks and Solander. 
3. A. diandra (two-stamened), F. v. M. Fragm. iii. 108 (under Ameletia ); 
Benth. FI. Austr. iii. 296. Erect or creeping at the base, branched or nearly 
simple, not exceeding 6in. but not so slender as the preceding species. Stem 
leaves sessile, orbicular, very obtuse, cordate at the base, 2 to 3 lines diameter, 
the floral ones scarcely smaller, orbicular or ovate, and often very close, forming 
