ALCHORNEA. 



ALCHORNEA. 



Flowers dioecious. $ . Calyx 2-5-parted. Stamens 8 ; with 

 the filaments united in a ring at the base. ? . Calyx 3-5-toothed. 

 Style bipartite. Stigmas 2. Capsule baccate, dicoccous. A. de J. 



381. A. latifolia Sivartz prodr. 98. fi. ind. occ. ii. 1154. — 

 Mountains in the South of Jamaica. 



A tree 20 feet high. Leaves stalked, ovate, acuminate, obtuse, 

 remotely toothletted, very smooth and shining, rugose beneath ; pe- 

 tioles long, reflexed, smooth. Racemes axillary and terminal, 6-10 

 inches long, compound, somewhat panicled. Males in alternate clusters 

 of 4-5, yellow-green. Sepals ovate, concave, equal, coloured. Female 

 racemes longer, drooping, generally lateral, not axillary, simple, angular, 

 smooth ; flowers subsessile, alternate, remote, solitary. Capsule black- 

 ish, the size of a large pea. — Nees and Ebermaier refer the Alcorrwco 

 bark to this plant; but it appears upon Humboldt's authority to be the 

 produce of Bowdichia, which see in Fabaceae. 



CATURUS. 



Flowers dioecious. $ . Calyx 3-fid. Stamens 3. ? . 

 Calyx 3-parted. Styles 3, lacerated. Capsule 3-coccous. A. 

 de J. 



382. C. spiciflorus Linn. Mant. 127. Hoxb.fi. ind. iii. 760. — 

 Acalypha hispida Burm. ind. t. 61. f. 1. (Rumph. iv. t. 37. ff. 

 1.2.) — East Indies. 



A shrub. Leaves on long stalks, cordate, serrate. Flowers axillary, 

 spiked, pendulous, longer than the leaves. — Flowers said to be a spe- 

 cific in diarrhoea and similar disorders : boiled in water or administered 

 in the form of a conserve. 



ACALYPHA. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. $ Calyx 4-parted, sta- 

 mens 8-16 5 cells of the anther distinct, vermiculate. ?. 

 Calyx 3-parted. Styles 3, lacerated. Capsule 3-coccous. 

 A. de J. 



383. A. indica Linn. sp. pi 1424. Willd. sp. pi. iv. 525. 

 Roxb.fi. ind, iii. 675. — Cupameni Rheede 10. t. 81. and 83. — 

 A common annual in gardens in India. 



Stem 1-2 feet high, round, smooth, branched. Leaves stalked, 

 ovate-cordate, 3-nerved, serrate, smooth, 2 X 1| inches ; petioles as long 

 as leaves ; stipules small, subulate. Spikes axillary, usually solitary, 

 stalked, erect, as long as the leaves, many-flowered, crowned with a 

 body in the form of a cross. Male flowers numerous, crowded round 

 the upper part of the spike. Sepals 4, cordate. Filaments numerous 

 and very minute. Females remote, enclosed in a cup-shaped involucre, 

 which has an opening on the inner side and is striated, smooth, toothed, 

 2-4-flowered. Sepals 3. — Root bruised in hot water cathartic. De- 

 coction of leaves laxative. 

 187 



