158 THALAMlFLOUiE. 



nal : style 3-fid : stigmata simple. Capsule 3-wiiiged : seeds 

 ovate. 



III. Paullinia. 



Calycine sepals 5, subunequal. Petals 4, interiorly 

 appendiculated, with a vacant space for a fifth which 

 is awanting. Stamens 8, subunequal. Capsule leath- 

 ery, 3-celled, 3-valved. Seeds half covered with a 

 membranaceous arillus. — De Cand. 



Climbing shrubs, with compound leaves. Named, by Lin- 

 naeus in honour of Simon Paulli, Professor of Botany at Copen- 

 hagen, author of Botanicum Quadripartitum, 1640 ; and Flora 

 Danica, 1648. 



1. Paullinia Jamaicensis. Common Supple-jack. 



Capsule pear-shaped, valv^es subacute, leaves biter- 

 nate, leaves ovate crenato-serrated towards the apex 

 wedge-shaped towards the base, subglabrous, inter- 

 mediate petiole marginate. 



P. sarraentosa, Browne, 212. 



HAB. Limestone districts. 



FL. October. 



A shrub, climbing, a few feet in height : branches long, un- 

 armed, towards their extremities anguloso-sulcated and minutely 

 puberulous or subglabrous. Leaves biternate : leaflets unequal, 

 ovate or oblong, apiculated, coarsely and sparingly crenato-ser- 

 rated towards the apex, entire and wedge-shaped towards the 

 base, nerved, glabrous except the axils of the nerves beneath, 

 membranaceous : common petiole terete : intermediate petiolule 

 distinctly margined ; lateral ones partially. Racemes terminal, 

 compound : branches simple, but sending off, near the base, a 

 simple tendril : flowers small, white, in clusters, pedicelled, 

 polygamous. Calycine sepals subunequal. Capsule stipitate, 

 pear-shaped, 3-celled, 3-lobed, when ripe of a red colour: valves 

 obovate, subacute. Seeds solitary, size of a pea, semiglobose, 

 black, half covered with a white arillus of a meally texture : 

 cotyledons curved and folded round the embryo ; radicle turned 

 towards the base of the seed. 



The branches of this species, from their roughness and flexi- 

 bility, are commonly employed as riding switches. Quantities 

 of them are annually sent to Europe. The bark is usually re- 

 moved, and to prevent their becoming brittle, it is recommended 

 to rub them with oil. The seeds possess the property of in- 

 toxicating fish. It is said, that those of some species of Serjania 



