FLORA OF ADEN. 
305 
Fruit a circumseissilely dehiscent capsule, membranous or sometimes 
corky or coriaceous. Seeds 2 or more, erect, lenticular ; testa crustace- 
ous, black, shining or dull ; embryo annular, surrounding floury albu- 
men ; cotyledons linear ; radicle descending or ascending. 
Species about 40. 
Distribution : — Warmer parts of the World. 
1. Celosia argentea L. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 205; Forsk. FI. Aegypt.- 
Arab. CVII ; Moq. in DC. Prodr. XIII, II, 242; A. Rich. Tent. FI. 
Abyss. II, 212; Oliv. in Trans. Linn. Soc. XXIX, 140; Ascbers. in 
Schweinf. Beitr. FI. Aethiop. 178 ; Engl, flochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr. 
205; Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 172 ; Schinz in Engl. u. Prantl Pflanzenfam. Ill, 
1 A, 93, fig. D, and 99, t. 51, fig. A, B, C ; in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. XXI. 
180; in Bull. Herb. Boiss. IV, Append. II, 163; Cooke FI. Bomb, 
Presid. II, 485. 
Celosia margaritacea L. Sp. PI. ed. II, 297. 
Celosia splendens Schumach. & r TKn»u. Beskr. Guin. PI. HO ; 
Moq. in DC. Prodr. XIII, II, 244 
Description : — A glabrescent branched annual, 1 — 4 feet high ; stem 
terete, simple or ascending ; branches grooved. Leaves variable, 1 — 4 by 
J — inches, linear-lanceolate, subnarrow, acute, entire, glabrous, base 
much tapering into a short petiole or leaves sessile. 
Flowers at first pinkish, afterwards glistening white, crowded and 
imbricate, in close cylindric blunt or acuminate terminal spikes 1 — 3 by 
| — 1 inch, sometimes branching at the apex in a cockVcomb form .; 
bracteoles — -i inch long, linear-lanceolate, scarious. Perianth i inch 
long or more ; sepals linear-lanceolate, acute, scarious, with 3 close parallel 
slender strise on the back. Stamens short, filaments connate into a cup. 
Style filiform, elongate after flowering, sometimes exserted in fruit. 
Capsules | inch long, ellipsoid, tapering at the apex into the style, 
circumscissile about the middle. Seeds 4-8, subreniform, compressed, 
■y^p inch in diameter, black, polished, shining. 
Flowers and fruits: — December (Schweinf.). 
Locality At Shaikh CFthman (Schweinf.). 
Distribution : — Tropical Africa, Arabia, India, Ceylon, South-East 
Asia, Malaya. 
Note : — Schweinfurth mentions the variety Celosia argentea L. yar. 
vera Moq. as occurring at Shaikh CFthman. The distinguishing 
characters are given with these words : “ foliis lineari-lanceolatis sub- 
angustis.” Considering that C. argentea is a very variable plant and 
assumes very different appearances according to the soil or situation in 
which it may be found we have dropt the varietal name ( vera } Moq/ 
H 2 
