Sierculia.] XXII. sterculiace.e. 227 



the very young leaves. Leaves crowded at the ends of the thick branchlets, 

 deciduous, digitately compoimd on long petioles; leaflets 5 to 11, elliptical 

 oblong or almost lanceolate, 4 to 8 in. long, mostly acuminate, entire, cori- 

 aceous, contracted into short petiolules. Flowers rather large, of a dull red, 

 coining out with the young leaves in loose, simple or branched racemes, not 

 exceeding the petioles. Calyx deeply divided into 5 lanceolate spreading 

 segments, about ^ in. long, glabrous outside, tomentose inside. Staaiijial 

 column or gynophore slender and curved, both in the males and females. 

 Ovary very villous, 5-ceIled, with many ovules in each cell Follicles large, 

 woody, glabrous outside, fibrous within. Seeds 10 to 15, oblong, the i-adicle 

 remote from the hilum.— E. Br. in Benn. PL Jav. Ear. 227; Wight, Ic. t. 

 181 and 364. 



N. Australia, N. coast (-K. Broia/), 



"Wales, Hastini^sand Mackav rivers, Beckler, 



nsert the spc- 



auges over 



^ 1 have not seen R. Brown's specimens, and Bcckler's are leaves only. I inse 

 cies thei-efore on Brown's authority, desciibiug it troui Indian specimens. It r 

 the East Indian and Malayan peninsulas and the Archipelago, 



2. S. quadrifida, R. Br. in Benn. PL Jav. Bar. 233. Glabrous, ex- 

 cept the iuflorescence. liCnves petiolate, ovate or cordate, obtuse or acumi- 

 ^nte, mostly 3 to 5 in. long. Racemes several, crowded within the upper- 

 niost leaves, 1 to 2 in. lou";, clothed with a stellate tonieutum. Bracts broad, 

 acumuiate, very deciduous. Pedicels 2 to 4 lines. Calyx about 4 lines long, 

 tomentose, cleft to the niiddle, the lobes usually 4, lanceolate, counivent and 

 cohering at the tips. Staininal column short. Follicles sessile, ovoid, 2 to 3 

 in. lono-^ ]i.,nl and almost woody, minutely tomentose or glabrous. Seeds 2 

 to 4, ovoid, black, the radicle remote from tlie hihim. 



N. Australia, Sims Island, J. Cunninf^kam ; Arnhem's Land, F. Mueller; Port 

 Il-ssinirton, Armstrong; Cape Upstart, M'GiUicraj/. 



Queensland. Delta of the Burdekin and Port Denison, Fltzalan ; "VA^ide Bar, Bid^ 

 ^lU; Moi-eton Hay, F. Mueller. 



^he northern specimens have longer and more acute leaves, and rather smaller flowers on 

 'onger pedicels than the eastern 



-^ 



3. S. ramiflora, Badh. A shrub or small tree, clothed with a soft 

 stellate tonieiituin or pubescence, which rarely disappears on the upper surface 

 of the older leaves. Leaves on long petioles, broadly ovate-cordate or nearly 

 orbicular, mostly acuminate, entire, angular or oljscureiy 3- or 5-lobcd, often 

 attaining 5 or *6 in. Flowers few, huge, red, nearly sessile, and clustered 

 in the axils of the upper leaves. Calyx broadly campanulate, 1 fo li in. long, 

 the lobes shorter than the tube, spreading, obtuse, 8-nerved in the centre, 

 yith broad induplicate margins ; inside the tube at the base are 5 small, 

 inflexed, and veiy villous double scales. Staminal column slender, hirsute at 

 tlie base. Ovary pubescent; stigmas recurved. Follicles shortly stipitate, 

 I to 4 iu. long, glabrous outside, villons inside, stipitate (nccorditig to 

 ^ Brown), with very numerous seeds ; I have not seen thein perfect. 

 ^'•achychUon paradoxnm, Sehott, .Mcletem. 34; Brachjcldton rauufon, u, , 



^- Br. in Benn. PI. Jav. Jiar. 234. 



N. Australia. Brunswink and Vansittart's Bavs, N.W. coast, A. Cunnhgham ; Vic- 

 toria river and Point Perron, F. Mueller. 



q 2 • 



ones. 



