208 FLORA VITIENSIS. 
I have united Leucosmia and Drymispermum, because there does not seem any valid difference between 
them. The scales of the calyx throat vary much in position, being in one or two rows, and occasionally 
scattered ; and in some species, as for instance in my D. subcordatum, they are almost abortive. The number 
of stamens is in some species 8, in others 10, as is also that of the lobes of the calyx. The anthers of 
Leucosmia proper are not versatile. A. Gray has also shown that the length of the genitalia varies in the 
same species, as it does in many Zubiacee. In habit there is nothing whatever to distinguish the typical 
Leucosmia Burnettiana from Drymispermum. We have, therefore, no option but to adopt the suggestion of 
Asa Gray, and unite the two genera, leaving the task of remodelling the tribes of Thymeleacee to those 
who may monograph the whole Natural Order. 
Secr. I.— Flores 5-meri. 
1, D. Burnettianum, Seem. ; glaberrimum ; foliis breve petiolatis coriaceis ovatis v. ellipticis v. 
summis suborbicularibus breve acuminatis reticulato-venosis nitidis; capitulis breviter pedunculatis, 
solitariis v. subpaniculatis, involucro 2-bracteato, bracteis deciduis ; calyce (albo basique petioli pur- 
purascente) extus glabro, lobis oblongis obtusis concavis; squamis faucis parvis ovatis; ovario vil- 
loso; drupa compresso-globosa v. subdidyma (coccinea).—D. (2) Forsteri, Meisn. in DC. Prodr. 
vol. xiv. p. 605, ex parte. Dais disperma, Forst. Prodr. n. 192 ex parte. Dais disperma, Forst. 
Icon. (ined.) t. 136 !, non Herb.  Leucosmia Burnettiana, Benth. Bot. Sulph. p. 179. t. 57.— 
Nomina vernac. Vitiensia, *Sinu dina” et * Sinu damu.”—A seaside shrub growing with Hibiscus 
tiliaceus and Colubrina Asiatica, and found on Ovalau and Viti Levu (Seemann! n. 383, Barclay !). 
Also collected in the Tongan (G. Bennett! Harvey!) and Samoan Islands (U. S. Expl. Exped.). 
The dark-green leaves and their shining surface, the white, (ultimately cream-coloured) and highly- 
scented flowers, and scarlet drupes as large as hazel-nuts, render this shrub, which is about 14 feet high, 
a desirable acquisition for our gardens. "The Vitians string the flowers upon a reed or cord, and make 
necklaces of them, which they call * sinu-codo," a term also applied to a chain. “ Sinu damu ” means the 
red Sinu, * Sinu dina" the genuine Sinu. 
The synonymy of this plant has engaged the attention of both myself (Bonplandia, 1862, p. 154) and 
A. Gray (Journ. of Botany, 1865, p. 305). I pointed out that the drawing of Dais disperma made by 
Forster at Tonga Tabu, and preserved at the British Museum, exactly represented Bentham's Leucosmia — 
-"Burnettiana, a plant of which (in some copies of the * Botany of the Sulphur’) a plate is given. But on 
turning to Forster's * Prodromus,’ we find that that author must have combined with the species figured in his 
unpublished drawings another species, also from the Tongan Islands, with tetramerous flowers and ovate- 
lancet acuminate leaves. A. Gray justly suspected that this second species was the plant he has recently 
described as Leucosmia acuminata. But at the time he made his inquiries at the British Museum, the 
specimens of L. acuminata collected during Captain Cook's voyages had accidentally been placed in a wrong 
cover, and the questions addressed to Mr. Bennett could therefore not be so fully answered as could 
be wished. Since then fine specimens of L. acuminata, collected by D. Nelson in the Tongan Islands, 
have turned up, and they agree exactly with the single leaf and the leaf description of Forster’s, and 
they have also the tetramerous flowers introduced into Forster’s diagnosis. In my mind there is no doubt 
that Dais disperma of Forster's * Prodromus’ includes two very distinct species, —that the leaf in his her- 
barium belongs to Leucosmia acuminata, Gray, and the Drawing (t. 136) to L. Burnettiana, Benth. No 
stress can be laid upon the leaves being described as “ enerviis.’. When fresh the venation is scarcely 
visible; but on drying, the veins become more prominent, and the blade might then, in some instances, 
be described almost as membranaceous. 
2. D. pubiflorum, (sp. nov.) Seem. ; foliis ovato-lanceolatis oblongisve sensim acutatis vel acu- 
minatis subcoriaceis; pedunculis axillaribus et fasciculatis e ramis vetustioribus defoliatis ; capitulis 
pauci-pluri-floris; floribus 5-meris 10-andris extus pubescentibus, lobis oblongis; squamis fauciali- 
bus parvis integris; antheris parvis brevi-oblongis ; drupa immatura ovato-fusiformi.— Leucosmia 
pubiflora, A. Gray in Seem. Journ. of Bot. 1865, p. 306.—Kadavu (Seemann! n. 379; U.S. Expl. 
Exped. ! in Mus. Brit.). i: 
Secr. II.— Flores 4-meri. 
Ok D. lanceolatum, A. Gray in Seem. Journ. of Bot. 1865, p. 304; glaberrimum ; foliis bre- 
viter petiolatis lanceolatis utrinque subacutis supra nitidulis, venis venulisque teneribus; fasciculis 
