Phyllanthus. MONOECIA MONADELPHIA, 657 
5. P. retusus. R. 
Shrubby, dioecous. Leaves obovate, cuneate, sub-retuse. 
Flowers axillary, crowded ; male pentandrous, Calyces five- 
leaved. Berries pendulous, pure white, six-seeded. 
A stout, ramous, shrubby species, a native of Bengal, in 
flower and fruit, in all stages, the whole year, 
Trunk scarcely any thing distinct, that can be so called ; 
but several woody, very ramous branches, rise from the root, 
which spread in all directions; young shoots ribbed; and 
void of pubescence. Leaves simple, alternate, short-petioled, 
obovate-cuneate, rounded at the apex, truncated, or retuse, 
smooth on both sides, about an inch long, and not so much 
broad. Stipules obliquely triangular, withering, Flowers 
axillary, crowded, minute, pedicelled ; the males on one plant, 
and females on another ; when the petals expand the pedicels 
are considerably lengthened. Male calyx five-leaved ; leaf- 
lets oval, concave. Filaments five, distinct, of the length of 
the calyx, alternate with five nectarial scales round the three- 
cleft, abortive pistil. Female calyx as in the male. Necta- 
ry a slender membranaceous ring round the base of the germ. 
Germ round, three-celled, with two ovala in each, attached 
to the axis from the middle upwards, Style scarcely any. 
Stigma trifid, segments spreading, cuneate, bidentate. Ber- 
ries round, very pure white, smooth, of the size of a small pea, 
succulent, three-celled. Seeds two in each cell, or in all six, 
separated into pairs by pulpy partitions, Integuments two ; 
the exterior one thin, and white ; the inner one nuciform,and 
beautifully pitted. Embryo inverse, and curved like the 
back of the seed, Cotyledons two, linear-oblong. adicle 
sub-cylindric, superior. : 
It is at all times a handsome shrub, but when its numerous — 
pure white, pendulous berries are ripe, it then becomes par- 
ticularly conspicuous. 
This as well as Phylianthus virosus might better be refer- 
red to Willdenow’s Fluggea, see his edition of the Sp. Pl. ive 
p. 757. but according to what I have observed in his only 
VOL, 111, 4E 
os 
