350 CLI. C0MMELINACE7E. [. PolUd. 
Fruit indehiscent, crustaceous, blue. 
Stout plants; inflorescence terminal . . i. Pollia 
Capsule loculicidal whitish ; flowers bisexual. 
Stamens 3 perfect; staminodes 1 to 3. 
Cymes solitary in a spathe . . . .2. Commelina 
Cymes several, no spathe . . . . -3- Aneilema 
Stamens 6 perfect. 
Cymes terminal, often in imbricating bracts or 
axillary.4. Cyanotis 
Flowers in a terminal panicle . . . -5- Floscopa 
Cymes lateral, very large plants; capsule pink . 6. Forrestia 
Flowers unisexual; males terminal panicled ; females 
cymose enclosed in bract . . . .7. Spatholirion 
1 . POLLIA, Thunb. 
Large herbs; leaves lanceolate petioled. Panicle terminal, 
dense or lax. Sepals 3. Petals free, white. Stamens 6, or 3 with 
3 staminodes; filaments naked. Ovary 3-celled; ovules many. 
Capsule crustaceous, globose-ovoid, blue. Species about 15, Asia, 
Australia. 
Panicle short, conic, dense; stamens 6 . . (1) P. thyrsiflora 
Panicle lax, few-flowered ; stamens 3. 
Leaves pubescent beneath; sepals hairy . . (2) P. sumatrana 
Leaves glabrous; sepals glabrous . . (3) P. subumbellata 
Panicle lax, many-flowered, peduncled, pubescent . (4) P. sorzogonensis 
(1) P. thyrsiflora Endl. Gen. 1029; Ridl- Mat. ii. 14. 
Stem stout, -25 in. through, ascending to 2 ft. tall. Leaves 
oblanceolate acuminate narrowed to a broad petiole, glabrous, 10 
to 15 in. long, 3 to 4 in. wide; petioles 2 in. long. Panicle thyrsoid, 
dense sessile, puberulous, 1 to 3 in. long. Stamens 6. Fruit 
ellipsoid, deep steel blue. Hab. Common in damp spots in hill 
forest. Pahang, Tahan River. Selangor, Kwala Lumpur (Curtis); 
Ginting Bidai. Perak, Waterloo; Gunong Kerbau (Haniff). 
Disirib. Andamans, Malay isles. 
(2) P. sumatrana Hassk. Commel. Ind. 57; Ridl. Mat. ii. 114 
{not of Clarke). 
Stem ascending, 1 ft. long, slender. Leaves elliptic acuminate, 
thinly scabrid above, thickly hairy beneath, 5 to 6 in. long, 1*25 
in. wide; midrib and petioles *5 in. long, red-hairv. Panicle 1 to 
2 in. long, pubescent, 2 in. wide. Sepals hairy. Fruit *25 in. long, 
ovoid lead-colour. Hab. Hill woods, Perak, Hermitage Hill (Ridley). 
Gunong Pordoh (Burkill). Rare. Distrib. Sumatra. 
(3) P. subumbellata Clarke, Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xi. 451; 
Ridl. Journ. Roy. ^ 4 s. Soc. S. Br. 59, p. 24. 
Stem slender, ascending to 3 ft. tall. Leaves thin lanceolate, 
long-acuminate at both ends, 3 to 4 in. long, 1 in. wide, glabrous; 
petioles 1 in long. Panicle lax, 1-5 in. long; peduncles 2 in. long; 
branches 75 to 1 in. long. Sepals orbicular, glabrous. Stamens 3. 
Fruit elliptic, blue. Hab. On limestone rocks, local. Kedah, 
Gunong Geriang (Ridley). Distrib. Himalaya to Assam. 
