LXXVIII. ILLECEBRACEiE 
411 
ovoid, indehiscent, smooth, 1 -seeded utricle enclosed in the persis- 
tent perianth. 
Kashmir to Kumaon ; May-October. — N.W. India, ascending to 8000 ft. — 
Westward to the Atlantic. 
LXXIX. AMARANTACE^E 
Herbs or undershrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate, simple, 
entire or nearly so. Flowers small or minute, with a bract and 2 
bracteoles at the base of each, 2 -sexual, rarely polygamous, spicate, 
racemose or paniculate ; bracts and bracteoles scarious. Perianth 
herbaceous or dry, persistent, 5- rarely 4-parted ; segments imbri- 
cate, nearly equal, usually erect. Stamens 5, rarely fewer, hypo- 
gynous, opposite the perianth-segments, united at or near the base, 
often with interposed staminodes. Ovary usually ovoid, free, 
1 -celled ; style simple, stigma usually capitate ; ovules few or 
solitary. Fruit berry-like or a dry, membranous utricle usually 
enclosed in the persistent perianth, breaking up irregularly or 
opening by a horizontal line ; seeds few or solitary, usually black, 
shining and kidney-shaped. — Name derived from the Greek a, 
not, and maraino, to wither ; the flowers last a long time. — 
Tropical and subtropical regions. 
Amarantus paniculatus, Linn. ; FI. Br Ind. iv. 718, is a common rainy 
season crop in the hills, conspicuous from afar by reason of its tall stems and 
numerous, long, erect spikes of red or yellow flowers. It is cultivated throughout 
India and up to 9000 ft. in the Himalaya. Native name Bathu. 
A. caudatus, Linn. ; FI. Br. Ind. iv. 719, the Love-lies-bleeding of English 
gardens, is occasionally cultivated ; it resembles the preceding except that 
the long, tail- like spikes are drooping. 
Perianth herbaceous. Fruit succulent. 
Perianth-segments spreading or reflexed . . .1. Deeringia. 
Perianth-segments erect . . . . . .3. Bosia. 
Perianth scarious. Fruit dry. 
Flowers in long, terminal, simple spikes. 
Spikes silvery-shining. Flowers erect . . .2. Celosia. 
Spikes dull green, often tinged with purple. Flowers 
soon deflexed ....... 6. Achyranthes. 
Flowers in short spikes, axillary or paniculate. 
Spikes very short, head-like, all axillary. Perianth 
glabrous 7. Alternanthera. 
Spikes f-l in. long, axillary or paniculate. Perianth 
hairy 5. Mrua. 
Flowers in globose whorls containing numerous, hooked 
perianth-lobes and aggregated in terminal or panicled 
spikes 4. Cyathula. 
