LEAFLETS OF PHILIPPINE BOTANY 



EDITED BY A. D. E. ELMER, A. M. 



Vol. V. Manila, P. I., June 21, 1913. Art. 89. 



A FEW NEW POLYGALACEAE 



by 



A. D. E. Elmer 



SECLfRIDACA Linn. 

 Securidaca atro-violacea Elm. n. sp. 



A scandent woody climber; stem terete in outline, 5 

 cm. thick, flexible, branched occasionally toward the top, 

 crooked and twining; bark rough, brown with gray blotches; 

 wood soft, dingy, white, odorle.ss, bitterish, the cordage 

 divisions well divided by the bark; branches long, terete, 

 tough, dark green and very smooth, freely rebranched, droop- 

 ing over the river bed, glabrous and drying brown. Leaves 

 flat, coriaceous, pendant, lighter green beneath, greenish 

 brown in the dry state, ovately oblong or elliptic, the entire 

 margins involute, apex broadly rounded and usually 

 eraarginate, broadly obtuse or rounded at the base, the average 

 blades 5.5 cm. long and 2.75 cm. wide across the middle 

 or just below it, frequently much smaller, well scattered 

 alternatingly along the branchlets; midvein conspicuous 

 beneath, shining and lighter yellow at least in the dry leaves; 

 lateral nerves obscure, ascending, with 6 main pairs and 

 frequent intervening secondary ones, their tips reticulately 

 united, more evident from the upper side; petiole glabrous, 

 slender, 6 mm. long. Inflorescence 5 to 8 cm. long, mostly 

 from the terminal leaf axils, 2 to 3-forked from below the 

 middle or from near the base, the peduncle proper glabrous, 

 the forks flower bearing their entire lengths; flowers odorless, 



