Sapindales on account of the pendulous ovules with a dorsal 
(abaxial) raphe. The suggestion in Hooker's edition of 
Le Maout and Decaisne’s “System,” that the affinities of 
Coriaria are with the Malpighiaceae and other families 
of the Geraniales seems, however, preferable to either of the 
others. The fruit of Coriaria is peculiar in consisting of 
achenes attached by their inner angles to a slender pro- 
longation of the torus and surrounded by a pulpy mass 
composed of the five much enlarged petals. C. terminalis 
may be distinguished from the other species of the genus 
by the terminal inflorescence, below which two axillary 
leafy shoots are commonly produced. These are dorsi- 
ventral, the decussate leaves being brought into a spuriously 
distichous position by the twisting of the consecutive inter- 
nodes. An easily cultivated undershrub which grows well 
in any good loamy soil, C. terminalis is particularly to be 
recommended for gardens where the soil is calcareous. The 
only disadvantage to be contended with is the susceptibility 
of its flower to damage by spring frosts. In the garden of 
Canon Ellacombe at Bitton, whence came the material from 
which our figure has been prepared, this and other species 
thrive vigorously. The seeds of C. terminalis germinate 
readily ; the plant can also be propagated by cuttings. 
Descriprion.— Undershrub, perennial, 1-4 ft. high, 
sparingly branched ; twigs arcuately ascending, 4-angled, 
glandular-ciliate, reddish. Leaves opposite, spuriously dis- 
tichous through the twisting of successive internodes, wide 
ovate, shortly acutely cuspidate, base subcordate ; those of 
the young twigs pale green with reddish edges and veins, 
margin glandular-ciliate, base 5-nerved, 14-12 in. long, 
3-11 in. wide, nerves and veins impressed above, more or 
less raised beneath; those of the ‘branches wide elliptic, 
about 3 in. long, 2 in. wide, base 7-9-nerved ; petiole very 
short. acemes terminal, many-flowered, 5}-6 in. long, 
reddish upwards; rachis more or less reddish, shortly 
rather closely glandular-pubescent; pedicels glandular- 
pubescent, 3-4 in. long; in fruit elongated and }-}in. long, 
Spreading. Sepals imbricate, wide ovate, acute or apicu- 
late, base rounded, ;},—} in. long, about 7/5 in. wide, greenish 
with hyaline margin. Petals at first very small, fleshy, 
accrescent, almost triangular in section, convex without. 
