398 NYCTAGINEZ (Cooke). — [ Pisonia. 
6 in. in diam.; branches numerous, subopposite, terete, finely 
pubescent or nearly glabrous; leaves 1-3 in. long, $}-14 in. broad,, 
elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, obtuse, entire, glabrous or nearly so, 
base tapering ; petioles }-} in. long ; flowers in small dense cymose- 
pubescent clusters forming pedunculate axillary panicles ; bracts 
and bracteoles scarcely ? lin. long, ovate-oblong, obtuse, pubescent ; 
pedicels short, pubescent, fruiting much elongate ; perianth of male 
tlowers campanulate, 1} lin. long, pubescent outside, with 5 deep 
triangular acute teeth ; stamens 6-10, much exserted ; perianth of 
female flowers tubular, 1} lin. long, shortly 5-toothed ; style rather 
stout ; stigma lacerate ; fruit 4—} in. long, oblong or clavate, with 
long pedicels, 5-ribbed, pubescent between the ribs, each rib 
muricate with 1 or 2 rows of stalked viscous glands. Lam. Ill. 
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. iv. 711. Benth. Fl. Austral. iv. 279; Baker 
& Wright in Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. vi. i. 8. 
Eastern Recion : Natal; Tugela, Gerrard, 1597 ! 
Also in Tropical Africa. 
Orver CVII. ILLECEBRACE, 
(By Dr. T. Cooke.) 
Perianth herbaceous or coriaceous, persistent and often indurated 
after flowering, 4—5-lobed or 4—5-partite. Petals 0. Stamens as 
many as the perianth-lobes and opposite to them (rarely fewer or 
more), perigynous, often alternating with subulate or petaloid 
staminodes ; filaments short, sometimes connate at the base ; anthers 
2-celled, dehiscing laterally. Ovary free, 1-celled ; ovule solitary 
(rarely ovules 2-4), erect or pendulous from a basal funicle ; style 
obsolete or produced ; stigmas 2-3. Fruit usually a utricle enclosed 
in the persistent perianth. Seed globose, lenticular or reniform ; 
testa usually smooth ; albumen floury ; embryo straight, curved or 
annular ; cotyledons oblong ; radicle inferior. 
Annual or perennial herbs, rarely shrubs; leaves usually opposite; stipules 
scarious, rarely absent ; flowers minute, commonly green, usually hermaphrodite, 
cymose, often with scarious bracts. 
Distris. Species about 110, chiefly in Europe, the Orient, Africa, North and 
South America, a few in India, Australia and New Zealand. 
[Genera I.-III. were included by Harvey and Sonder (Fl. Cap. i. 132-3) in 
Caryophyllacex, to which order they were at that time referred.] 
I. Pollichia.—An undershrub. Stipules 0. Stigmas 2. Ovules 2. Embryo 
straight or slightly curved. 
IL. sisasuagminot 4 prostrate herb. Stipules small, scarious. Stigmas2. Embryo 
annular. 
Ill. Corrigiola.—Annual or perennial herbs, Stipules scarious. §tigmas 3. 
Embryo annular, 
IV. Scleranthus.—Annual or perennial herbs. Stipules 0. Stigmas 2. Embryo 
annular, 
