Page:The Journal of Indian Botany.djvu/579

THE INDIAN SPECIES OF ERIOCAULON. 143

The following deviations from what might be called the normal or primitive conditions seem to be the most constant — hairy in- volucre, one male petal enlarged, scarious floral bracts, crested female sepals, united female sepals, and white anthers ; while the number of sepals or petals, 'in either sex, their relative sizes and shapes, the length of the involucral bracts and of the pedicels are not neces- sarily even of specific rank.

If this supposition be correct, and the evidence is I think too strong to doubt it, the Indian species fall naturally into eight groups distinguished by the above ' sectional ' characteristics, with a ninth composed of species or forms which grow wholly submerged in water and have elongated stems thickly covered for several inches with long capillary leaves. This group I name SETACEvE, from the chief and Linnaean species; not, following Hooker, Aquaticae, because there are other species with just as good a claim to that title. A character which like this is purely adaptative is not as a rule considered of much value in determining relationships, but the five forms which share this in common are so alike among themselves and so differ- ent in appearance from any other species that they must go together in any systematic scheme. The possibility is not excluded that they have sprung severally from the other distinct sections of the genus, but the fact that the male sepals are more or less free instead of being united into a calyx split at the back as with most of the other species, may indicate that they separated off early from the primitive stock. Of my other eight sections the ANISO- PETAL^ with one male petal much enlarged, and the HIRSUTiE with hairy involucre, correspond in part to groups in the F.B.I, of species with these characters but not so named. The LEUCAN- THERiE with white or pale yellow anthers, the CRISTAIO-SEPA- L^ with crested female sepals and the CONNATO-SEPALiE with the female sepals connate, found places in Ruhland's arrangement ; but, except the last of which there is only one species in India, were broken up in the different claves and included several species which I exclude. The SGARIOSiE with scarious floral bracts is I believe anew grouping; and I place together as SIMPLICES all species which do not show one or other of the above mentioned characters.

The geographical distribution of the species and groups presents many interesting problems of variation and relationship. As regards the extra-Indian species, the material at my disposal does