green, cylindrical, obtuse at their extremities, the older 

 ones almost truncated. Smaller branches mostly alternate, 

 sometimes opposite, the extremities of the main branches 

 generally terminating in a sort of whorl of from three to 

 six smaller ones. The branches are studded with irregu- 

 larly placed dots or scars, whence the flowers, and, occa- 

 sionally, young shoots are produced. Each of these scars 

 is furnished with a very minute and hardly perceptible 

 spinule, in other respects the branches are entirely naked. 

 Flowers sessile, greenish -white, most abundant on the 

 alternate ramules. Petals five. Stamens numerous. Stig- 

 mas generally three-, sometimes four-cleft. Fruit a semi- 

 transparent, white, pulpy Berry. Seeds numerous, black, 

 apparently in three cells. Christy MSS. 



This is an old inhabitant of our stoves, readily cultivated, 

 flowering freely in February and March, and, as Mr. 

 Christy observes, (from whose collection our figure was 

 made,) when covered with ripe fruit in April, it bears a 

 considerable resemblance to a plant of Misseltoe. The 

 number of divisions to the calyx, the number of petals and 

 lobes to the stigma are evidently variable. 



Fig. 1. Portion of a Flower, the Petals being removed. 2. Flower. 3. 

 Stigma. — Magnified. 



