REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN MOLUCCAS. 185 



MYEISTICE^E. 

 Myristica insipida, E. Br. \ 



Myristica insipida, R. Br.? DC, Prodi., xiv. p. 206; Benth., Fl. Austr., v. p. 281. 

 Timor Laut.— This is the only Australian species of a genus so largely developed in 

 the Archipelago and India. In De Candolle's Prodromus (xiv. p. 137) the distribution 

 of the genus is given as follows :— "Arbores (rarius frutices) tropica, in Asia meridional i 

 frequentiores, in America australi non rane, in insulis Africa australis rarissimiB, in con- 

 tinente africano adhuc incognitse." We are now able to extend the above range consider- 

 ably. Thus, at least three species inhabit Western Tropical Africa (see Hooker, Ic. PL, 

 xiii., pp. 48. 49, tt. 1260-1262), three or more inhabit Polynesia (Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa), 

 and three Central America and Mexico. There are fragments of several other species in 

 the collection from the South-eastern Moluccas. 



LAURINE^E. 

 Litsea (Oylicodaphne) sp. 



Dammar. — This is the only laurel in the collections, which is rather surprising, because 



the order abounds in the Archipelago, and a considerable number inhabit Tropical 



Australia. 



Cassytha filiformis, Linn. 



Cassytha filiformis, Linn. ; Miq., Ft. Ind. Bat., i. 1, p. 977; Benth., Fl. Austr., v. p. 311 ; Mann in 

 Proc. Amer. Acad., vii. p. 199; Nadeaud, Enum. PL Tahiti, p. 47. 



Arrou ; Ki. — Beutbam unites Cassytha americana, Nees, with this, and thus enlarged, 

 the species is very widely diffused, chiefly in maritime districts, in Tropical Asia, Africa, 

 America, and Australia. 



Hernandia peltata, Meissn. 



Hernandia peltata, Meissn.; Benth., Fl. Austr., v. p. 314; Seein., Fl. Vit., p. 204, t. 52; Biker, Fl. 



Maurit., p. 293 ; Nadeaud, Enum. PI. Tahiti, p. 48. 

 Hernandia sonora, Miq., Fl. Ind. Bat,, i. 1, p. 887, et Forst., Fl. Ins. Austr. Prodr., p. V>'\ nun Linn. 



Larat ; Timor Laut. — Common in the Archipelago, from China, Loo Choo, and the 

 Philippines southward ; also in Polynesia from the Fiji to the Society Islands, and in the 

 Mascarene Islands. The genus Hernandia consists of about eight or nine arboreous 

 species, spread over the tropics of both hemispheres, but usually growing in maritime 

 districts. Nadeaud, loc. cit., designates Hernandia i><lt<<ta one of the "plantes 

 madreporiques." 



Hernandia, n. sp. \ 



Ki.— This is apparently an undescribed species of Hernandia; but flowers are wanting, 

 as are the involucral bracts which enclose the fruit until it is ripe. 



(BOT. CHALL. EXP. — PART III. 1885.) ^ "* 



