50 ` FLORA VITIENSIS. 
Flores hermaphroditi. Calyx brevis, obtuse 3-5-dentatus, persistens, imbricatus. Petala 5, oblonga, 
recurva, imbricata. Discus orbicularis, 5-crenatus. Stamina 10, basi disci inserta, libera. Ovarii 
carpella 5—6, libera, disco apice concavo inserta, unicum fertile, reliqua ad stylos simplices reducta ; 
stylus brevis, stigmate truncato; ovulum a funiculo basilari suspensum. Drupa parva, parce car- 
uosa, putamine crustaceo v. osseo compresso 2-valvi. Semen gibbum, hinc auctum, hine crassum ; 
cotyledones crasse; radicula supera.—Arbores; foliis alternis, petiolatis simplicibus coriaceis inte- 
gerrimis; paniculis terminalibus et axillaribus, confertis, ramosis; floribus parvis, albis; fructibus 
rubris.— Coniogeíon, Blume, Bijdr. 1156. Cambessedia, Kunth in Ann. Sc. Nat. vol. ii. p. 366. 
1. B. florida, Schauer, in Reliq. Meyenianz, p. 481; A. Gray, Bot. Wilkes, p. 966. t. 44; 
glabra; foliis obovato-oblongis obtusis retusisve in petiolum attenuatis; paniculis ramosis laxifloris 
glabellis; pistillis in disco cupulari multidentato semi-immersis ; drupis suborbicularibus compressis. 
—Vanua Levu (U. S. Expl. Exped.), Ovalau and Wakaya (Storck! n. 882). Also found in the 
Philippine Islands. 
“ A hard timber tree, from which the natives about Ovalau make their canoe paddles.” (Storek.) 
III. Oncocarpus,. A. Gray, Bot. Wilkes, p. 364. t. 49; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. p. 424- 
Flores dioici v. monoici? Calyx parvus, cupularis, 5-dentatus. Petala 5, oblonga, patentia, valvata. 
Discus in fl. ¢ hemisphericus, centralis. Stamina 5, basi disci inserta. Fl. 9 ignoti. Drupa 
compressa et depressa, deformis, basi calycis lati brevis carnosi (hypocarpio) insidens, endocarpio 
osseo rugoso tuberculato intus lobato, l-locularis. Semen loculo conforme, testa tenui; embryo 
transversus, cotyledonibus irregulariter lobatis carnosis pro parte connatis, radicula brevissima centri- 
fuga.—Arbor glaberrima ; foliis alternis, simplicibus, petiolatis, coriaceis, integerrimis, obtusis; pani- 
culis terminalibus, compositis; floribus parvis, bracteatis. 
The female flowers of this plant are still unknown, the specimens colleeted by me and afterwards by 
Mr. Storck being, strangely enough, exactly in the same state as those obtained by the United States 
Exploring Expedition. lt is from want of the female flowers that I am unable to establish the identity of 
Oncocarpus Vitiensis with Rhus atra of Forst. Prodr. n. 142, with any degree of satisfaction. Vieillard 
(Ann. Se. Nat. Ser. 4. tom. xvi. p. 71) has referred Forster's Rhus atra, from New Caledonia, to Seme- 
carpus. He describes the plant as dioicious, and the male flowers as subimbricate, and as valvate in sesti- 
vation, whatever that may mean; and the female flowers are said by him to be the same. In Forster’s 
original specimens there are only hermaphrodite flowers, and these are distinctly quincuncial in sestivation, 
making Rhus atra a true Semecarpus.* The principal difference between Semecarpus and Oncocarpus, as 
far as at present known, is, that the former has an imbricate, the latter a valvate æstivation; the habit 
of both genera being identieal. But it is quite possible that the male flowers of Oncocarpus have a valvate, 
and the hermaphrodite a quincuncial estivation; and if that should be the case the two genera would 
probably have to be united. But until the female or hermaphrodite flowers of the Vitian Oncocarpus are 
known we cannot venture upon that, or even identify Rhus atra with Oncocarpus Vitiensis, though both 
are extremely alike in foliage and habit. 
1. O. Vitiensis, A. Gray, Bot. Wilkes, p. 365. t. 43.— Nomen vernac. Vitiense, “ Kau karo.” 
— Southern coast of Viti Levu (U. S. Expl. Exped.; Seemann! n. 94), Ovalau (Storck! n. 881), 
Bua Bay, Vanua Levu (U. S. Expl. Exped.). : 
Amongst the trees most dreaded by the natives on account of their noxious qualities, the Kau Karo, 
literally itch-wood, occupies a prominent place. It seems to act somewhat like Rhus venenata or Seme- 
* There is an apparently undescribed species of Semecarpus at the British Museum, which in the- 
shape of the leaf and male inflorescence somewhat resembles Oncocarpus Vitiensis, though in other respects 
it is near S. Anacardium, from which it differs in baving the leaves attenuated at the base, ete. Seme- 
carpus insularum, Seem. mss. in Herb. Mus. Brit.; foliis oblongis v. obovato-oblongis, obtusis v. acutis, in 
petiolum attenuatis, integerrimis marginatis, glabris, supra atro-viridibus, subtus albidis; paniculis mas- 
culis terminalibus folia equantibus v. superantibus ; floribus sessilibus hirtellis; petalis æstivatione valvatis. 
— Possession Island, south of New Guinea (Wiles and Smith! in Herb. Mus. Brit.) Leaves 4—6 inches 
long, 21-3 inches broad; petioles 1—$ of an inch long. : | 
