Ilelideres.'] xxti. sterculiace.e. 233 



^^^T. procum7jens. Brandies pmciiinLeiit, ^ to 2 ft. long; tonicntimi looser; leaves 

 smaller and rounder, velvcty-villoiis oa the upper side ; staminodia lontjcr. Macadam range, 

 I F, Mueller. 



Var. i$) jlagelhxris. Branches prostrate, 1 to 2 ft. long; leaves nearly sessile, cordate or 

 orbicular, 1 to 1^ in. long; cymes on long slender peduncles. Port Ess'iugton, Armstrong, 



5. PTEROSPERMUM, Sclireb. 



Bracteoles 3, entire or laciniate, sometimes very deciduous, or perhaps 

 none. Calyx tubular, 5 -cleft, deciduous. Petals 5, often very long, deci- 

 duous. Stamiual column adnate to the gynophore, divided at the top into 

 5 linear-clavate staminodia, with 3 stipitate anthers between each; anther- 

 cells linear, parallel. Ovary sessile in the top of the column, 5-celled with 

 several ovules in c:^ch cell. Style undivided, club-shaped, and 5-fuiTowed 

 at the top. Capsule woody or coriaceous, ovoid or oblong, terete or angular, 

 opening loculicidally in 5 valves. Seeds ascending, produced into a wing at 

 the top; albumen little or none; cotyledons wrinkled or folded; radicle in- 

 ferior, rather long. — Trees or shrubs, clothed with a stellate tomentnm or 

 scurfy scales. Leaves coriaceous, often oblique, entire, cuneate-toothed or 

 angled at the upper end, pcnuinerved or several-nerved at the base. Peduncles 

 short, axillary, 1-flowered. Flowers often several inches long. 



The gcuus is liiiiited to East India and the Archipelago, the Australian species being i)ro- 

 bably the same as one of tlie Asiatic ones. 



1. P. acerifolitun, TFilkl; IF, and Jrn. Prod. 69? I have seen a 

 fi'agment only in very young bud, which agrees with this species in the very- 

 angular rusty-tomentose young calyx, and in the bracteolcs divided into nar- 

 roiv-lincar lobes, and iuliing off at a very early stage. There are 3 leaves 

 ^^dy, tlie largest is, as in P. acerifoUurji, coriaceous, broad at tlie end, cordate 

 ^t the base, nearly glabrous above, tomentose underneath, with about 11 

 pi'omiuent nerves radiating from the petiole; but it is much narrower than 

 usual in that species, measuring 9 in. by 4. The 2 others are as yet not 

 half developed, but are broader in proportion, and although the specimen is 

 lUsufRcicnt for identification, it shows no character to separate it from 

 P. (icerifolium^—^NvrU^ Ic. t. 631. 



^Vales. lllawarra? Vernon {Herb. F, Mueller), 



MELHANIA 



Bi-acteoles 3, persistent. Calyx divided almost to the base into 5 seg- 

 ments. Petals 3, persistent. Stamiual cup very short, bearing 5 ligiilate 

 staiiiiuodia, and 5 stipitate anthers alterjiating with them, the anther-cells 

 parallel. Ovary sessile, 5-celled with 1 or more ovules in each cell. Style 

 visually short, with 5 subulate branches, stigmatic along the inner side. Cap- 

 sule opening locidieidally in 5 valves. Seeds with albumen; cotyledons 

 lolded, 2-clcft; radicle iuferior.— Herbs, uudershrubs, or small shrubs, softly 

 tomcutose. Leaves ovate or cordate, serratc-crenate. Peduncles axilhuy, 

 1- or few-flowered. Brueteoles often exceedhig the calyx. Flowers yellow. 



The genus extcuds over the tropical and suLtroi>ical regions of the Old World, but is most 

 ^bundant ia Airica. The Australian spcrics is the same as an Indian one. The Labit is 

 ^bat of some Ma!vare.r. 



