230 ON SOUTH-AMERICAN APOCYNACEZ. 
Both were equally wrong in adopting as its synonym the Nerium sarmentosum of P. 
Browne, which is Mesechites myrtifolium. Swartz, who well described Jacquin’s plant, 
avoided this mistake, considering that the drawing of the latter better represented the 
species than that of Browne. 
It is a subscandent plant, with an abundant lactescent juice; its branches are very 
slender, smooth, bifid towards the summit, with axils 13-23 in. apart; the opposite leaves 
are patent, oblong, narrowing towards the base, acute and mucronulate at the apex, 
opake-green above, with about 8 pairs of diverging nerves, sulcate on the reticulated 
veins, pale glaucous beneath, opake, midrib pale and prominulent, with immersed 
nerves, 1-2 in. long, 4-7 lines broad, on scabridulous petioles 13 line long ; raceme axil- 
lary, very short, on a peduncle 2 lines long, bearing 3 to 6 alternate smallish flowers on 
capillary pedicels 24 lines long; sepals sharply acuminate, subreflexed at the apex, 
glabrous, 2 lines long, + line broad; tube of corolla slender, a little swollen in the middle, 
6 lines long; segments broadly dolabriform, rotate, with dextrorse convolution, 4 lines 
long, 3 lines broad, of a pale rubescent colour ; follicles 2, erect, terete, acuminate, toru- 
lose, with small oblong comose seeds. 
3. MEsECHITES LANCEOLATA, nob.: Nerium foliis lanceolatis, Plum. Amer. i. p. 20, tab. 27. fig. 1: 
Echites repens, A. DC. in parte (non Jacq.), l. c. p. 449. In America tropica: non vidi. 
A twining species, extremely different from M. repens: it has terete, very flexuose 
slender branches, with axils 14-14 in. apart; leaves very patently opposite, lanceolately 
oblong, roundish at the base, subobtusely narrowed at the summit, with about 8 pairs of 
divergently ascending nerves curvingly connected near the margin, 2-21 in. long, 6-63 
lines broad, on petioles 2 lines long; raceme lateral, on a peduncle 14 in. long, bearing 
on its summit 3-4 subapproximate flowers on pedicels 2 lines long; sepals small, sub- 
acute; tube of corolla slender, 8 lines long; segments dolabriform, 4 lines long and broad, 
rotately expanded, with dextrorse convolution ; follicles 2, pendulous, slender, subarcuate, 
very torose, 7 in. long; seeds smallish, with an apical coma 6 lines long. 
This species differs from M. torulosa in its long, simple, flexuose branches, larger and 
less acute leaves, and a raceme upon a lengthened peduncle, and longer flowers. 
4. MESECHITES ANGUSTIFOLIA, nob.: Echites angustifolia, Poir. (non Benth.) Dict. Suppl. ii. p. 537; 
A. DC. Z. c. p. 449; Schl. Linn. xxvi. p. 665. In Antillis ad San Domingo: non vidi. 
The very slender twining branches are glabrous and lactescent; the opposite leaves 
are long and extremely narrow, glabrous, entire, almost sessile, linear, rounded at the 
base, acute at the summit, marked by a midrib and 2 simple parallel nerves, more than 
3 in. long, 2 lines broad ; inflorescence axillary, very short, on a slender, bifid, 2-flowered 
puberulous peduncle ; flowers small, white; follicles 2, very slender, torulose, compressed, 
glabrous, 6-8 in. long. 
5. MESECHITES LINEARIFOLIA, nob. : Echites linearifolia, Ham. Prodr. Pl. Ind. Occid. p.31; A. DC. Le 
p. 449. In Hispaniola, Cap. Henrici : non vidi. 
A lactescent species near the preceding, differing principally in its white flowers. Its 
