Aitonia. | AITONIEH (Harv.) __ 243 
compressed, obcordate, 2-celled ; ovules solitary, affixed at the inner 
angle above the base. S¢yles 2, or connate in one ; stigmas capitate. 
Capsule compressed, bi-lobed at the apex, cordate at base, 2-celled, 2- 
seeded, the cells internally dehiscing, at length separating, and suspended 
from a bi-partite axis. Seeds compressed, produced into a membranous 
wing; cotyledons flat, somewhat fleshy, accumbent to the inferior, cylin- 
drical radicle. #. d& Z. Hn. p.54. Endl. No. 5636. 
A with abruptly or impari-pinnate leaves; leaflets -sided, ir, 
doamuane , very eerie pti, panicled, shorter ence pon a 
at the ends of the branches ; fl. small, white or yellowish. Name, from rraipw, to 
sneeze, Evdov, wood ; sneeze-wood, colonia] name of the tree. 
1. Pt. utile (E. & Z.1.¢.); Harv. Thes. Cap. t. 17. on 
Has. Hill sides near the Boschjesman’s Rivier and in Adow and Coega, Uiten- — 
hage, FE. ¢ Z., Zeyher, No. 2025, Drege 6814 ; and in other parts of the Eastern 
districts, common. (Herb. Sond., T.C.D.) Ese 
A tree, 20-30 feet high, with a trunk 2-4 feet diameter. Leaves opposite. 
Rachis pubescent, sub-compressed, 3—5 inches long. Leaflets ovate-oblong, obtuse, 
or sub-retuse, mucronulate, oblique at base, coriaceous, veiny, 1 inch long, 4—6 lines 
wide or less. Panicles 1-2 inches long. Petals 2 lines long. Capsule 7-10 lines 
long, 5-6 lines wide. Seed 2 lines, or including the wing, 6-8 lines long. The wood, 
Nieshout, Sneezewood, is handsome, takes a fine polish, is strong, durable, and some- 
what like mahogany, Pappe, Stilv. Cap. p. 5. 
** AITONIEA, Harv. 
(By W. H. Harvey.) 
AITONIA, Linn. f. 
Calyx short, deeply 4-parted, slightly imbricate in estivation, deci- 
duous. Petals 4, much longer than the calyx, erect, oblong, sessile, — 
strongly imbricate and slightly convolute in estivation. Stamens 8, 
hypogynous, monadelphous, exserted ; filaments ascending, subulate, 
flat, their dilated bases united in a short tube ; anthers incumbent, 
oblong, introrse, 2-celled, slitting longitudinally. Hypogynous-dise cup- 
shaped, crenulate, fleshy, within the stamens. Ovary sessile, 4-lobed, 
4-celled ; ovules 2 in each cell, collateral, axile, ascending, sub-sessile, 
semi-amphitropal ; style filiform, exserted, stigma simple. Capsule in- 
flated and membranous, deeply 4-lobed, and acutely 4-angled, 4-celled, 
loculicidal, the valves septiferous. Seeds 2-1, in each cell, reniform, 
with a thick, corrugated, leathery and rather loose testa; embryo green, 
incurved, exalbuminous, enclosed in a membranous integument, sepa- 
rable from the testa ; radicle short, straight; cotyledons elliptic-oblong, 
leafy. Endl. Gen. No. 5548. A. Juss. Mem. Mus. 19. 186. 
A shrub with alternate or fascicled, very entire, linear-oblong, obtuse, glabrous, 
leaves ; solitary, axillary, purplish, stalked flowers _ 
cnt weaaee It is named in honour of W. Aiton, Gardener to King a Bote 
a 
and 
George III., and author of the ‘* Hortus Kewensis.” 
1. A. capensis sis (Linn. f. Suppl, 303) ; Ait. Hort, Kew.-Ed. 1. Vol, 3 
p-43t. und, Fl. Cap. p. 8 E. ES No, 426, Curt. B - 
