84 



FLOKA OF JAMAICA 



Plicnax 



rudimentary. Female flowers : perianth wanting. Ovary 

 Avithin a bract ; stigma elongate, slender, persistent ; ovule erect 

 from the base. Achene somewhat compressed. Seed, with 

 endosperm; cotyledons ovate. Species 10, in tropical America. 



P. hirtus Wvdd. in DC. Prodr. xvi. pt 1, 2353^ (1869). 

 P. urtica^folius Wedd. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, /. 192 (1854) & 

 Monogr. 495 ; Griseh. FL Br. W. Ind. 160 (in part). Ba4imeria 

 hirta Siv. Prodr. 34 (1788) & FL Ind. Occ. 285. (Fig. 21.) 



Massonl Sioartzl McNabl Piirdie ; Wilson; Cinchona, J. P. 1306, 

 Hart ! Blue Mts. ; Cinchona, 5000 ft. ; Harris ! FL Jam. 5183, 9558. 

 Central America and Andes. 



Plants to 2*5 m. high. Leaves ovate, acuminate, sometimes suhcordate, 

 dentate-serrate, somewhat flat or rugose, sparsely hispid on upper surface, 

 nerves underneath hirtellous, 3-12 cm. 1., 1-5-5-5 cm. br. ; stalk to 3 cm. 

 1., hirtellous or puberulous. Flowers monoecious ; clusters androgynous 

 (flowers of each sex commonly equal in number), spherical, -8-1 cm. in 

 diam. Male floioers with 4-lobed valvate perianth and 4 stamens. Achenes 

 about ^ length of stigma. 



7. ROUSSELIA Gaudich. 



A perennial herb, tender, diffuse, with many branches. Leaves 

 alternate, small, broadly ovate, entire ; stipules small, free. 

 Flowers very small, moncecious, axillary ; male few in a small 

 cluster, each flower subtended by a small linear bract ; female 



geminate with two bracts, 

 bracts broad, foliaceous, free 

 from each other, but accres- 

 cent to the floAvers. Male 

 floAvers : perianth 4-partite, 

 valvate. Stamens 4. Ovary 

 rudimentary. Female flo^vers : 

 perianth ovoid, contracted at 

 the mouth, 2-4-toothed. Ovary 

 straight ; stigma filiform, 

 curved, papilloso-plumose on 

 one side ; ovule erect from 

 the base. Achene comi^ressed, 

 ovate, acute, with the enlarged 

 perianth and attached bract 

 persistent. Seed with scanty 

 endosperm ; cotyledons ovate. 

 Sjoecies one, in the West 

 Indies. 



Fig. 22. Roxisselia humUis Urb. 



A, Shoot bearing flowers. 



B, Male cyme. 



C, Bud of male flower with bract. 



D, Pair of female flowers. 



E, Pair of fruits witli attached bracts. 



R. humilis TJrh. Symh. 



Ant. iv. 205 (1905). R. lappu- 



lacea Gaudich. in Freyc. Voy. Bot. 503 (1826) & Voy. Bonite, t. 98 ; 



Griseh. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 160; Wedd. in DC. Prodr. xvi. pt. 1, 



235-^ Urtica humilis Sio. in Vet. Eandl. StocJch. vi. 34 (1785). 



