APOCYNACEAE. 339 



8. RAUWOLFIA L. Sp. PI. 208. 1753. 



Shrubs or trees with whorled or opposite leaves, and small flowers in 

 peduncled cymes. Calyx eglandular, 5-cleft or 5-parted. Corolla salverform, 

 the tube subeylindric, the 5 lobes sinistrorse. Stamens included; anthers ob- 

 tuse, their sacs not appendaged. Disc annular or cup-shaped. Carpels 2, dis- 

 tinct or connate; style filiform; stigma thick, annular or with a reflexed mem- 

 brane at the base; ovules 2 in each carpel. Fruit of 2 drupes, usually connate; 

 the fruit thus usually emarginate and 2-grooved. Seeds ovoid with fleshy 

 endosperm. [Commemorates Leonh. Rauwolf. a German botanist.] Forty 

 species or more, natives of tropical regions and of South America. Type 

 species: Sauicolfia tetraphylla L. 



1. Rauwolfia tetraphylla L. Sp. PI. 208. 1753. 



Rauwolfia nitida Jacq. Enum. 14. 1760. 



A glabrous shrub or tree, up to 20 m. high, the twigs slender. Leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, verticillate in 4's or some of them oppo- 

 site, acuminate or acute at the apex, tapering at the base, shining above, rather 

 dull beneath, the lateral veins numerous, widely spreading, the petioles 6-12 mm. 

 long; peduncles shorter than the leaves; cymes many-flowered; pedicels very 

 short; calyx 5-lobed, 2 mm. long, its lobes ovate; corolla white, its tube cylindric, 

 2-3 times as long as the calyx, its lobes about one-half as long as the tube; 

 fruit 11.5 cm. broad, 8-10 mm. high, red, its lobes ovoid, rounded. 



Coastal thickets and scrub-lands. New Providence, at Delaport : Cuba to 

 Tortola and St. Croix ; Jamaica ; recorded from St. Bart's. Smooth Rauwolfia. 



9. VALLESIA R. & P. Fl. Per. 2: 26. 1799. 



Branching shrubs or small trees, with alternate, short-petioled leaves, the 

 small flowers in long-peduncled cymes opposite the leaves. Calyx 5-lobed, the 

 lobes short. Corolla salverform, the tube swollen above, constricted at the 

 mouth, the 5 equilateral lobes shorter than the tube, sinistrorsely convolute. 

 Anthers unappendaged, free from the stigma, cordate; filaments borne on the 

 corolla-throat. Stigma clavate. Fruit a 1-2-seeded drupe. Seeds naked. 

 [Commemorates Francisco Valles, physician to Philip II. of Spain.] Two 

 known species, the following typical. 



x 1. Vallesia glabra (Cav.) Link, Enum. Hort. Berol. 1: 207. 1821. 



Rauwolfia glabra Cav. Ic. 3: 50. 1794. 

 Vallesia dichotoma R. & P. Fl. Per. 2: 26. 1799. 



A glabrous shrub or small tree, 6 m. high or less, the slender branches 

 sometimes elongated and vine-like. Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, some- 

 what fleshy, shining above, dull beneath, 3-6 cm. long, short-petioled, mostly 

 acute at both ends; cymes few-several-flowered, often forked; pedicels slender; 

 calyx about 1 mm. long, its lobes ovate, acute; corolla white, about 6 mm. long, 

 its narrow lobes one-third to one-half as long as the tube; fruit oblong, rounded 

 at apex, narrowed at the base, about 10 mm. long and 4 mm. thick. 



Scrub-lands and white-lands New Providence, Rose Island, Eleuthera, Cat 

 Island, Conception Island, Great Exuma, Long Island and Anguilla Isles : Florida ; 

 Cuba; Jamaica; tropical Mexico to Bolivia. Vallesia. 



