LORANTHACEiE. 311 



XCII. LORANTHACEiE. 



Calyx-limb reduced. Corolla epigynous, valvate, or none. Stamens opposite to, and 

 mostly iuserted into the petab. Ovary simple, solid : ovules 3-1, erect, reduced to simple 

 embryo-sacs, adhering to the ovary. Pericarp baccate. Embryo mostly small, enclosed in 

 endosperm. — Green shrubs, mostly parasites on the branches of woody plants ; leaves usually 

 opposite, thickish-leathery , quite entire. 



The bark and berry contains a viscid sap. Several Loranthi are used in Colonial medicine. 



1. LORANTHUS, L. 



Calyx-limb entire or minutely denticulate. Petals 6-4-8, distinct or combined. Anthers 

 2-locular, introrse, longitudinally dehiscent. — Flowers \-Z-bracieolate . 



All the West Indian species are glabrous parasites, their flowers hermaphrodite, the calyx- 

 limb truncate entire, and by their continuous (not jointed) branches they are easily to be 

 distinguished from the following genera. 



Sect. 1. Psittacanthus. — Flowers large, usually corymbose, supported by a cuculliform 

 bractlet. Petals combined into a slender tube. Filaments long, inserted into the co- 

 rolla-throat : anthers oblong, usually dorsal/y incumbent. Style filiform : stigma ca- 

 pitate. 



1. Ii. americanus, Jacq. Branchlets cylindrical; leaves ovate or oval, obscurely 

 veiny: principal veins separating from the midrib below the middle; flowers corymbose) : 

 pedicels ternate, thrice as long as the calyx ; cupule and calyx-limb entire ; corolla crimson, 

 cylindrical in the bud or slightly thickened at the top, incurved, Q-fid almost to the middle 

 (2" long) : lobes linear, recurved, exceeding a little the incumbent anthers and the style ; 

 filaments as long as the anthers; berry "ovoid." — Jacq. Amer. Pict. t. 98; Desc. Fl. 6. t. 

 390.— L. Jacquini, DC. L. Plumieri, Cham. Sch!. ex Plum. Ed. Burm. t. 160./. 1, which 

 appears to be a rough figure of our plant. — Leaves variable, as generally in the genus. — Hab. 

 Dominica !, Imr. ; [Guadeloupe ! ; Mexico ! to Brazil !]. 



2. Ii. ciaviceps, Gr. Branchlets cylindrical, subcompressed ; leaves broadly oval, 

 rounded at both ends, veiny : principal veins separating from the midrib below the middle ; 

 flowers corymbose : pedicels ternate, thrice as long as the calyx ; cupule and calyx-limb re- 

 pand-entire : corolla " yellow, tinged with red," clavate at the top in the bud, straightish, 

 G-fid to one-fourth-one-third (3"-2" long) : lobes elliptical-linear, recurved, exceeding a 

 little the iucumbent anthers and the style ; filaments as long as the anthers ; berry ovoid- 

 oblong. — L. americanus, Sto., Macf. (nonJacq.). — Stouter than the preceding; leaves 4"-3" 

 long, 2£"-2" broad, black in drying ; calyx 3'", cupule 1'" long ; corolla-limb (before ex- 

 pansion) 2'" diam. : lobes 1"' broad, tapering towards the base and the bluntish top ; berry 

 6'" long.— Hab. Jamaica!, Macf., M'Nab, Pd., Wullschh, on trees along the coast and ia 

 the mountains. 



Sect. 2. Struthanthls. — Flowers small, racemose, ternaiely glomerate on the pedicel, 

 each supported by a subulate bractlet. Petals distinct. Filaments broad, inserted below 

 the middle of the petals: anthers erect or dorsally incumbent. Style bluntish. 



3. Ii. lepidobotrys, Gr. {n. sp.). Branchlets tetraquetrous, rusty-furfuraceous or 

 squatnulose on the angles and chiefly on the axis of the racemes ; leaves broadly ovate, point- 

 leted : petiole complicate ; racemes simple, single in the axils, exceeded by the leaves : pedi- 

 cels thickish, as long as the ternately sessile flowers ; calyx truncate, thrice as long as the 

 ovate, pointed bractlet ; corolla ellipsoidal in the bud : petals 6, linear-oblong, bluntish 

 (li'" long), twice as long as the stamens ; anthers erect, hastate-deltoid, pointed; berry ob- 

 long. Leaves 3^"-2" long, 2" (-l£"-3") broad, obscurely veined, smooth, rounded at the 



base : petiole 3'" long ; racemes shortly peduncled, 3" long : pedicels distant, opposite, 3'" 

 Ion": bractlets concave ; calyx 1'" long ; petals incurved; anther-cells disunited from the 

 middle, shortly oblong ; style shorter than the petals, thickened at the middle ; stigma in- 

 conspicuous ; berry (immature) 2"' long.— Hab. Jamaica !, Al. 



4. Ii. orinocensis, Spreng. Branchlets tetragonal, at length cylindrical, rooting ; 



