110 HYPERICINE^. 



mucronate at the top, articulated with the filament. Ovary incompletely 3-5-locular. — Trees or 

 shrubby climoers ; racemes spiciform, long : bracts cucullate and ascidiate, with the aper- 

 ture inferior, simple, inserted into the top of the pedicel, and exceeding the flower. 



1. XV. guianensis, Audi. Leaves obovate ; ascidiate bracts scarlet, stipitate : the cla- 

 vate body as long or twice as long as its petiole; flowers violet, shortly pedicelled. — Aubl. 

 t. 220 ; Mart. N. Gen. t. 296. — N. paraensis, Mt. — A shrubby climber {Pd.) or a high 

 tree ( ubl.) ; leaves 6"-5" long, petioled, quite entire; flowers 2"'-3'", ascidia 12"'-8"' 

 long. — Hab. Trinidad !, Pd., in the mountains of S. Anns ; [Guiana !, equatorial Brazil !]. 



2. RUYSCHIA, Jacq. 



Character of Norantea, but flowers pentandrous, and anthers oblong or oval, devoid of a 

 mucro. 



2. "R. Souroubea, W, Leaves obovate-oblong, bluntish, shortly petioled ; flowers race- 

 mose : pedicels elongated ; ascidiate bracts close to the calyx, divided to the base into three 

 clavate segmeuts, the middle of which is ascending, the lateral ones (or spurs) reflexed, 

 shorter than the pedicel. — Aubl. t. 97. — Surubea Aubletii, Meg.! — A shrub; spurs nearly 

 as long as the middle segment of the bract ; petals " orange-coloured." — Hab. Trinidad !, 

 Cr., at Guanapo, rare ; [Guiana!]. 



3. MARCGRAAVIA, L. 



Sepals 6, two exterior smaller. Corolla calyptriform, circumscissile. Stamens co -12: 

 anthers linear, articulated with the filament a little above the base, not mucronate. Ovary 

 incompletely 12-4-locular, striated longitudinally: stigmas decurrent from its pointed, 

 bluntish top. — Climbing shrubs; leaves quite entire, shortly petioled ; flowers long-stalked, 

 in terminal umbels or corymbiform racemes; bracts inserted or adnate above the base of 

 the pedicel. 



3. M. spiciflora, Rich. Leaves obovate ; flowers numerous, in a corymbiform raceme; 

 bracts small, spathulate, convex above, concave below, inserted somewhat below the middle 

 of the pedicel : sterile none; corolla circumscissile near the middle; stamens 18-12 ; pla- 

 centas 4. — Ann. Mus. 14. t. 25. — A tortuous shrub, 6'-2' high; leaves usually 4" long, 2£" 

 broad ; raceme 4" long : pedicels approximate, spreading, 1£" long, clavate at the top ; 

 flower-buds 4'" long before the rupture of the corolla, ovoid. — Hab. Dominica !, Jmr.; [Gua- 

 deloupe, among Sphagnum in the mountains]. 



4. M. umbellata, L. Leaves ovate-oblong or oblong-linear (those of the rooting shoots 

 distichous, cordate, emarginate, subsessile, fern-like) ; flowers umbellate : exterior pedicels 

 ebracteate, interior abortive, the latter with an adnate, ascidiate, claviform bract ; corolla cir- 

 cumscissile from the base ; stamens numerous, long-exserted from the calyx : anthers recurved ; 

 placentas 12-6. — Br. Jam. t. 26 ; the broad-leaved form ; Jacq. Amer. Pict. t. 143 : the 

 narrow-leaved form ; Tuss. Fl. 4. t. 13 j Desc. Ft. 4. t. 239 ; Hook. Exot. Fl. t. 160.— M. 

 coriacea, V. : a veinless, broad-leaved form. M. trinitatis, Prl. The sterile, rooting shoots 

 are described as M. picta, W., M. dubia, Kth., and Urostigma infestum, Miq.l ■■ they are 

 figured as Ferns by Sloane. — A trailing shrub : the branches partly rooting, partly nodding ; 

 leaves 5 "-3" long, 2"-8 w broad; pedicels V-\\ n long; flowers greenish; interior sepals 

 roundish, 2"'diam.; stamens yellow, 6"'-8'" long; pericarp with a red pulp. The varia- 

 bility is considerable : the leaves ovate-oblong, elliptical-lanceolate or oblong-linear, acumi- 

 nate, pointleted or bluntish, veiuless or with prominent, anastomosing veins ; the pedicels 

 tubercled or smooth; the pericarp globose or ovate. — -Hab. Jamaica!, M'Nb., Al., on trees 

 and rocks; Dominica!, Imr.; S. Lucia!, S. Vincent!, Guild.; Trinidad; [Cuba!, Vene- 

 zuela!, southern New Granada!]. 



XXXVII. HYPEEICINE^S. 



Sepals imbricative, 4-5 : two exterior. Stamens mostly indefinite : anthers erect or in- 

 cumbent. Pistil paracarpous, or at length syucarpous : styles usually distinct. Embryo 

 exalbuminous, cylindrical : radicle usually exceeding in length the short cotyledons. — Leaves 

 mostly opposite, quite entire, exstipulute, usually punctate tffith pellucid dots. 



