224 SPECIES BLANCOANAE 
this is the plant intended. The description of Adelia bernardia 
Blanco, non Linn.=A. barbata Blanco applies in part to Melan- 
olepis multiglandulosa but also in part to Mallotus ricinoides 
Muell.-Arg. (see p. 221). The species is common and widely 
distributed in the Philippines at low altitudes, its most common 
Tagalog name being alim or alum. The specific name moluccana 
is invalid for this species. The Linnean species Croton moluc- 
canus, on which it was based, is in part Givotia rottleriformis 
Griff., and in part Aleurites moluccana Willd.; see Merrill In- 
terpret. Herb. Amb. (1917) 318. 
Illustrative specimen from Manila, Luzon, March, 1914 (Mer- 
rill: Species Blamcoanae No. 489). 
ALCHORNEA Swartz 
Excoecaria sicca Blanco Fl. Filip. (1837) 787 (sp. nov.); ed. 2 (1845) 
542; ed. 3, 3 (1879) 193, t. 307=ALCHORNEA SICCA (Blanco) Merr. 
in Philip. Journ. Sci. 5 (1910) Bot. 192 (A. philippinensis Pax & 
Hoffm.!). 
Croton drupaceum Blanco FI. Filip. ed. 2 (1845) 519 (sp. nov.); ed. 3, 3 
(1879) 155, non Roxb.=ALCHORNEA SICCA (Blanco) Merr. 
This species is common in certain localities about Manila, 
growing in thickets, along streams, ete. J. Mueller, followed by 
Pax, was quite wrong in referring Blanco’s Excoecaria sicca to 
Homalanthus populneus as a variety. Fernandez-Villar was 
equally wrong in referring it to Alchornea mollis Muell.-Arg., 
a species that does not extend to the Philippines. As to Croton 
drupaceum Blanco, this was reduced by Fernandez-Villar to 
Croton luzonensis Muell.-Arg., a species that does not grow in the 
vicinity of Manila, and one to which Blanco’s description does 
not at all apply. Blanco’s specimens were from the banks of 
the Pasig River opposite Guadalupe, a few kilometers from 
Manila, known there as balanti, the same native name he cites 
for his Excoecaria siecca. The specific name is a misnomer, and 
he does not describe the fruit as a drupe: “Drupa globosa, poco | 
carnosa, que se divide en tres pedazos (y por tanto tricoca) y 
en cada uno una semilla huesosa.” His description manifestly — 
applies to Alchornea sicca, and the species is still common along ~ 
the Pasig River opposite Guadalupe and is still generally known 
to the residents there as balanti. Pax & K. Hoffman are entirely 
wrong in citing as a synonym of this species, Alchornea par- 
viflora Muell.-Arg. The form they have described as Alchornea 
philippinensis is typical Alchornea sicca (Blanco) Merr. 
Illustrative specimen from the banks of the Pasig River 
