Oola.] XXVI. STERCULIACEjE (MASTERS). 225 



central leaflet ; lobes acuminate. Flowers in short dense clusters, emerging 

 from the branch a little above the axil of a leaf. Pedicels ± in. long, 

 covered with close reddish down. Flower-buds globose or somewhat tetra- 

 gonal. Calyx campanulate, coriaceous, of 5 roundish, valvate lobes, striate in 

 the interior. Male fl. . . . Hermaphrodite fl. : Anthers numerous, each with 

 2 linear parallel lobes, irregular in size and disposed in a ring around the 

 base of 5 short, downy, 1-celled carpels, each surmounted by a large, fleshy, 

 rounded stigma. Fruiting pedicels thickened, 1 in. in length. Ripe carpels 

 2 by abortion, 2-3 in. long, oblong-acuminate, ventricose, tapering at the 

 base into a stalk scarcely shorter than itself, splitting widely along the pla- 

 cental or ventral suture so as ultimately to be nearly flat, and thus expose 

 the brilliant crimson inner surface. Seeds 4-6 in each carpel, oblong, ob- 

 tuse, somewhat compressed, \ in. long ; testa black, shining, parchment-like 

 (when dry). Albumen 0. Cotyledons 2, thick, flat, brownish; radicle 

 directed towards the hilum. 



Upper Guinea. Prince's Island, Barter ! Mann ! West Africa, Captain Babingfon ! 



The splendid foliage and brilliant crimson of the expanded fruit render this a very desirable 

 plant for introduction. In the early dehiscence of the fruit it resembles the species of the 

 section Firmiana, but the present plant has thick, coriaceous, almost woody follicles. 



4. HERITTERA, Dryand. (v. Aiton ?) ; Benth. et Hook. f. 

 Gen. PI. i. 219. 



Flowers unisexual. Calyx 5-toothed or 5-eleft. Petals 0. Column 

 slender, bearing 5 anthers in a ring, just below the apex of the column. 

 Anther-cells parallel. Ovary 5-celled. Style short. Stigmas 5, thick. 

 Ripe carpels woody, indehiscent, with a prominent keel along the back. 

 Seed exalbuminous. Cotyledons very thick ; radicle next the hilum. — A 

 tree, with leathery entire leaves, shining on the under surface ; venation 

 penninerved. Flowers small in axillary panicles. 



There are but two species of this genus, both widely distributed along the coasts of tro- 

 pical Asia and Australia. One species alone has yet been found in Africa. 



1. H. littoralis, Dryand. inHortus Kewensis, ed. 1. iii. 546. A mode- 

 rate-sized tree. Leaves with caducous lanceolate stipules. Petioles \-\\ 

 in. long, covered with flat scales. Leaves 3-5 in. long, 2-3 in. wide, sub- 

 cordateToblong, acute, coriaceous, silvery-white on the under surface and with 

 a few flat scales. Male flowers small, in axillary much-branched clusters, 

 shorter than the leaves. Calyx urceolate, downy, divided above into 5 

 shallow oblong teeth. Column short. Anthers 5. Female flowers larger 

 than the males. Calyx bell-shaped. Follicles 1 to 4, from 1 in. and upwards 

 in length, woody, oblong, keeled, 1-seeded. 



Mozamb. Distr. Mouths of the Zambesi, Br. Kirk ! Tette, Dr. Kirk ! 



Not previously recorded from the African coast, but widely diffused along the seacoasts of 

 tropical Asia, the islands of the Pacific, etc. 



5. KLEINHOVIA, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. i. 219. 



Bractlets small. Sepals 5, deciduous. Petals unequal ; the upper ones 

 vol. i. Q 



