Jolt 19, 1913] New Anonaceab 1733 



Polyalthia nickersonii Elm. n. sp. 



A rather small erect tree; stem 2.5 dm. thick, 8 m. 

 high, terete except the wadded base, branched from below the 

 middle; main branches many, divaricate, very long, forming 

 an elongated crown, freely rebranched; twigs relatively short, 

 suberect, lax, the young tips densely yellowish puberulent 

 canescent; wood light, soft, sulphureus except the thin whitish 

 sapwood, odorless, distinctly bitter; bark relatively thick, 

 mottled, smooth or roughened with lenticels or excrescences. 

 Leaves alternating, mostly toward the ends of the twigs, 

 chartaceous, glabrous, horizontal, entire, bluntly obtuse to 

 acute at recurved apex, base truncately rounded and occasion- 

 ally subcordate, duller green on the upper surface, when 

 dry fuligineus above and umbrinus beneath, oblong, 3 dm. 

 long by 1 dm. wide or a trifle wider, occasionally longer 

 or much smaller; midrib prominently raised beneath, when 

 young olivaceus pubescent, flat on the upper side and in the 

 early state densely canescent; lateral nerves at first similarly 

 pubescent, ultimately glabrous, 15 to 25 pairs, very oblique, 

 tips ascendingly curved but scarcely united, cross bars rather 

 numerous and very minute; petiole less than 1 cm. long, 

 thick, terete, dea^ely yellowish puberulent; buds densely short 

 yellowish pubescent. Flowers usually axillary from the 

 lowermost leaves or lateral, upon short densely canescent 

 bracteate peduncles; calyx broadly shouldered at the united 

 base; its segments 3, glabrous on the upper side, canescent 

 or felty on the outside, broadly ovate, apex br(;adly obtuse, 

 1 cm. high or higher, 1.5 cm. wide across the base, outer 

 petals 6 cm. long, 1.5 cm. wide, minutely pubescent, gla- 

 brous in the middle region toward the base, bluntly obtuse 

 at apex, base broad, oblong or linearly oblong, yellowish, 

 straight, succulent; the 8 inner lobes with a strong bend 

 at the slightly constricted middle region, somewhat shorter and 

 narrower, canescent except the fiat basal portion, the middle and 

 also the upper portion folded; torus fiattish, soft and short hai- 

 ry; anthers numerous , contiguous, 4 mm. long, the basal 1 mm. 

 stipitate, it as well as the connective grayish white strigose, lobu- 

 lately thickened at the apex, pollen sacs lateral and quite broad; 

 pistils much less numerous, 1 mm. shorter, angular, grayish 



