Notes on the acanthaceae of Java - DWC

48 NOTES ON THE ACANTHACEAE OF JAVA
exactly the same type are also found in genera whose place in th is subtribe
is by no one disputed, there appears to be no reason to refer this genus
to another subtribe: The seeds are not unlike those of "Justicia" tranquebarensis
T. And., a species whose exact position could not yet be ascertained,
but which belongs undoubtedly to ,the Justiciinae • . for its pollen
grains are doleiform and 2-porous with a single row of knobs on each
si de of the pores. The spinous excrescences of the seedcoat are in "Justicia"
tranquebarensis contracted at the base, whereas those of Rhaphidospora
remind one of stalactites, i.e. they are inserted with a broad base
and drawn out into a sharp point. These excrescences of the seedcoat are
doubtless the best diagnostic character of the genus, but they shed no
light on its taxonomie position, for the plan on whieh they are built, is
not differen.t from ,that of the less conspicuous excrescences found elsewhere
in the Justicieae: they mereley con sist of groups of strongly elongated
epidermis eells.
The presence of the genus Rhaphidospora in Java was up to now doubtfui.
It is true that NEES (in DC., Prodr. XI. p. 500, 1847) had referred
BLuME's JlISticia dichotoma ,to this genus, but ,this was, as I have shown
above, a ·mistake: BLUME's species belongs to Strophacanthus. CL ARKE (in
Hook.f., FI. Brit. Ind. IV, p. 535, 1885), however, quotes Java as a part
of ,the area in which Rhaphidospora glabra (Koen. ex Roxb.) Nees occurs
This record has never been confirmed. Is may have been based on a
wrongly labelled specimen or on a misidentification. IE CLARKE'S specimen
belonged to Rh. javanica. one of the two new species described below, the
misidentification would be comprehensible enough, for this species is at
first sight not unlike Rh. glabra. Rh. javanica, however, is a very rare
plant, which, so far as I know, has been eol1ected only in a single locality
in East Java. The occurrence of Rh. glabra in Java is very improbable. It
is true that .th is species has also been recorded from the Philippines and
from Bast Africa, but it seems to me that it is in reality confined to the
Deccan Peninsuia and Ceylon. The Philippine specimens which USTERI
(-Beitr. Kenn.tn. Philipp. Veg., p. 123, 1905) and subsequent botanists
referred to .this species, were re-examined by me, and proved to belong to
an undescribed species, for which I propose thename Rh. glabrituba
Brem.
Rhaphidospora glabrituba Brem. n. spec.; Justicia glabra Koen. ex Roxb.
in errore apud Usteri, Beitr. Kenntn. Philipp. Veg., p. 123, 1905 et apud
MerrilI. Enum. Philipp. FI. PI. lIl, p. 489, 1923, non Koen. ex Roxb., FI.
Ind. I. p. 132, 1821; typus: MERRILL 218 U.
Habitu Rh. glabrae simiHor, sed absentia pilorum in corollae tubo sub
palata insertorum necnon thecis ambobus calcaratis ab ea recedens.
Habitat insulam Luzon dictam.
The African spetimens rèferred by CLARKE to Rh. glabra. were originallv
described as Rh. abyssinica Nees. CLARKE's description (in Fl. Trop.