Amaranthus .] 
AMARANTHACiE. 
267 
has comparatively slender unarmed stems 1J-2 feet high, ovate-rhom- 
boid petioled leaves, cylindrical spikes simple in the axils of the leaves, 
and forming a slightly compound terminal panicle, oblong subacute 
perianth-segments under y 1 -^ in. long, lanceolate-subulate bracts scarcely 
exceeding the flower, and a utricle as long as the perianth. 
# A. gangeticus , Linn. ; Moq. in DC. Prod. xiii. 2, 261, (A. mangos- 
tanus, Linn. ; A. oleraceus, Wight, Ic. t. 715 ; Bojer, Hort. Maur. 266, 
non Linn.), commonly cultivated in the tropics of the Old World, is 
subspontaneous in Mauritius. It is a stout erect glabrous annual with 
little-branched stems 2-3 feet high, distinctly petioled ovate or lanceo- 
late acute leaves, trimerous flowers in dense globose clusters in the 
axils of the leaves, and forming terminal spikes or panicles, perianth- 
segments J- in. long scariose with a green keel running out into a 
distinct cusp, stamens 3, bracts and utricle as long as the perianth. A. 
melancholicus, Linn., is a variety with the globose clusters of flowers 
all axillary, and A. tricolor, Linn., a similar form with bright-coloured 
variegated leaves (red, purple and yellow). Bredes Malabares. 
1. iERVA, Forsk. 
Flowers hermaphrodite. Bracts 3, ovate, shorter than the flower. 
Perianth-segments 5, oblanceolate, woolly, permanently conniving. 
Stamens 5 ; filaments joined at the base ; staminodia present ; anthers 
2-celled. Ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled ; style very short ; stigmas 2, minute. 
TJtricle indehiscent. Seed solitary, vertical, very minute. — Annuals or 
perennials ; leaves usually alternate ; spikes in the axils of the leaves, 
solitary or fascicled. Distrib. Tropics of the Old World. Species 
20 . 
Perennials. 
Large, with, densely woolly flowers 1 . A. lanata. 
Dwarf, with thinly woolly flowers 2. A. congesta. 
Annual 3. A. brachiata. 
1. A. lanata, Juss. ; Moq. in DC. Brod. xiii. 2, 303. Perennial, 
with much-branched downy stems 1-3 feet long. Leaves in. long, 
opposite or alternate, ovate or obovate, obtuse or acute, membranous, 
distinctly petioled ; base cuneate-spathulate. Spikes in., oblong 
or cylindrical, sessile, solitary or fascicled in the axils of the leaves. 
Perianth in. long, white, very woolly, twice as long as the deltoid 
densely pilose bracts. Staminodes deltoid-cuspidate, shorter than the 
filaments. Wight, Ic. t. 723. 
Mauritius, on the Pouce and at Grand Bassin, Bojer ! Through the tropics of 
the Old World. •JS'. villosa, Moq. in DC. Prod. xiii. 2, 304, gathered in Mauritius by 
Coulon, seems to be a shrubby variety of this species with spikes ^ inch long, 
and flowers ^ in. long. 
2. A. congesta, Balf. fil. Perennial, the wiry trailing sub-gla- 
brous stems forming a dense tuft 3-4 inches across. Leaves oppo- 
site and alternate, obovate-spathulate, subcoriaceous, glabrous, obtuse 
