Rourea CO^'NAKACE.E 265 



Family XXXVIII. CONXARACE^. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, without stipules, impari- 

 pinnate or 1-3-foliolate ; leaflets entire. Flowers small, herma- 

 phrodite, regular. Calyx with 5 segments, in Rourea persistent 

 and hardened in fruit. Petals 5, imbricate. Stamens 5 or 10, 

 those opposite the petals shorter ; filaments generally united at 

 the base. Carpels 5, globose, free, hairy, 1 -celled. Ovules 2, 

 collateral, ascending from the base. Fruit a solitary follicle. 

 Seed solitary, erect, usually witli an aril. Endosperm none or 

 fleshy. 



Species about 140, of wliich the greatest number are natives 

 of South America and south-west Asia, some occur in tropical 

 Africa, very few in the West Indies, Central America, and the 

 Pacific Islands, none in Xorth America, nor Australia. 



ROUREA Aubl. 



Woody vines, shrubs, or small trees. Leaves imparipinnate^ 

 rarely with one leaflet, the twigs often ending in a strong tendril 

 or hook. Panicles axillary or terminal, with numerous small 

 flowers. Calyx-segments imbricate ; tube enlarged after flowering. 

 Stamens 10. Carpels, 1 fertile, 4 generally imperfect. Follicle 

 sessile. Seed generally longer than the aril. Endosperm none. 



Species 42, natives of tropical America and Asia, one 

 African. 



Sepals triangular, ciliolate along margin. Carpels 



much shorter than the stamens 1. R. paiicifoliolata. 



Sepals oblong, with a tuft of hair at the apex. Carpels 



subequal to the stamens 2. R. glabra, 



1. R. paueifoliolata Planch, in Linnsea xx'di. 415 (1850) ; 

 calyx-segments ovate-deltoid, subcordate at the base, puberulous 

 on the inside and ciliolate along the margin ; carpels much 

 shorter than the stamens. Briiton in N. Amer. Fl. xxii. 234 ; 

 R. oblongifolia HooJc. <i' Am. var. floribunda Planch, he. cit. 

 (1850); R. glabra Griseh. Fl Brit. W. L.d. 2l'S (1880) (in 

 part); Bale, in FL Bras. xiv. pf. 2, 182 (in part); (non 

 H.B.ctK.). (Fig. 113.) 



In fl. Aug., Sept.; in fr. ^Nlarch, April ; Macfadycnl Distinl March I 

 Holly Mount, Mt. Diablo ; near Trov, 2000 ft. ; near Schwallenberg, 

 St. Ann ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. S4'J2, 8753, 9423, 10,330. 



Shrub " climbing by means of woody tendrils. . .to a length of 90 ft." 

 (Harris). Leaflets 3-9, rarely only 1, oblong-elliptical, acuminate, some- 

 what leathery, nerves and veins slightly proniinulous on both sides, 

 3 "5-7 '5 cm. 1., 2-3 cm. br. Panicles crowded towards the end of the 

 branches, equalling, or longer than, the leaves, about 10 cm. 1. Calyx 



