372 
LXXIII. ACANTHACEiE 
Stamens 2 ; anthers blunt. Style 2-lobed ; ovules 2 in each cell. 
Capsule shortly stalked, oblong, ^ in. ; seeds 4. 
Sutlej valley, in damp places; March. — Outer Himalaya from the Punjab 
to Bhotan, ascending to 3000 ft., usually in forest undergrowth. 
4. 2ECHMANTHEBA. Prom the Greek aichme , the point of a 
spear, and anther ; referring to the minutely pointed anther-cells. 
— India. 
iEchmanthera tomentosa, Nees ; FI. Br. Ind. iv. 428. An 
erect shrub, 1-3 ft. ; stems white-tomentose. Leaves stalked, 
lanceolate, 2-4 x 1-2 in., crenate, acute ; upper surface hairy, 
lower white-tomentose. Flowers pale blue, in small clusters 
sessile along the spreading branches of a terminal panicle ; bracts 
glandular-hairy, linear, as long as the calyx ; bracteoles similar, 
smaller. Calyx glandular-hairy, 5-parted ; segments linear. Corolla 
1 in. long ; tube cylindric at the base, dilated upwards ; limb 
spreading, \ in. across, lobes 5, rounded. Stamens 4, included ; 
anther-bases blunt, tips minutely pointed. Style linear, upper 
lobe obsolete or nearly so ; ovules 4-6 in each cell. Capsule 
linear, hardly longer than the calyx, splitting to the base ; seeds 
6 - 8 . 
Valleys below Simla, Subathoo ; August-October. — Temperate Himalaya, 
3000-5000 ft. 
5. STROBILAHTHES. From the Greek strobilos, a fir-cone, 
and anthos, a flower ; referring to the appearance of the young 
inflorescence. — Asia, Africa. 
Erect shrubs. Leaves often unequal, crenate or sharply 
toothed. Flowers blue, solitary in the axils of bracts, arranged in 
spikes or heads often forming terminal panicles ; bracts leaf-like 
or very small, persistent or falling off before the flowers expand ; 
bracteoles linear. Calyx 5-parted ; segments linear. Corolla-tube 
usually curved, more or less cylindric in its lower portion, dilated 
upwards ; limb spreading, 5-lobed, lobes nearly equal, rounded. 
Stamens 4 ; anther-bases blunt. Style-tip linear, recurved, upper 
lobe obsolete; ovules 2 in each cell.- Capsule pubescent, often 
viscid, oblong, about j in. ; seeds 4 or fewer, pubescent. 
Some species of Strobilanthes are gregarious as undergrowth in mountain 
forests, flowering only at intervals of sometimes several years ; at these seasons 
the plants die down after flowering, and permit the seedlings of forest trees to 
grow up which had been impossible while the Strobilanthes occupied the ground. 
Bracts persistent. 
Stems terete. Leaves hairy. Corolla-tube cylindric 
for half its length I S. glutinosus. 
Stems 4-angled or deeply furrowed. Leaves glabrous 
or nearly so. Corolla-tube cylindric only at 
the base . ■ . . . . . . . 4. S. atropurpareus. 
