23-i XXTI. STERCULIACE^. [Melhajiia, 



M. incana. Hey 



A rather slender slirub 



of 1 or several ft., hoary or white except the upper side of the leaves with a 

 close or velvety tomentum. Leaves shortly petiolate, oblong or ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, obtuse, scarcely toothed, 1 to 2 or even 3 in. long, tonientose on both 

 sides, or nearly glabrous above. Peduncles bearing 1, 2 or rarely 3 or 4 

 flowers, the pedicels very short. Bracteoles naiTOw-lincar or subulate, rather 

 shorter than the calyx. Sepals lanceolate-subulate, tomentose, about 4 to 6 

 lines long. Petals rather longer, broad, yellow. Staminodia linear, often 3 

 lines long; anthers shorter, linear, on siiort filaments. Style elongated. 

 Capsule tomentose, shorter than the calyx, with 2 or 3 seeds in each cell. 

 M. oblongifolia ^ F. Muell. ¥ragm. i. 69. 



N. Australia. York So\ind, Cygnet Bay, and Dainpier's Archipelago, A, Cunydng- 

 ham; Upijer Victoria river and Start's Creek, F, Mueller ; islands of the Gulf of Carpeu- 

 taria, R, Brown ; Albert river, He^ine, 



Queensland. Broad Souud, E. Broimi ; Roekharapton and Burdekiii rivers^ P. MueU 

 ler ; Port Curtis, M'Glllivray ; Port Denison, Fltzalan, 



The species is also found in the East Indian peninsula, and a alight variety or closely 

 allied species in tropical Africa, 



ul 



7. MELOCHIA, Linn. 



(Ricdleia, Venial 



Calyx 5-lobed or S-toothed, campaniilate or inflated. Petals 5, spatlnilate 

 or oblong. Stamens 5, united at the base, without any or with very minute 

 tooth-like intervening staminodia ; anther-cells pai'allel. Ovary sessile or 

 shortly stipitate, 5-celled with 2 ovules in each cell, styles 5, free, or united 

 at the base, often thickened at the stigmatic top. Capsule opening locu- 

 licidally in 5 or fewer valves, some of the cells occasionally abortive. Seeds 

 usually solitary in each cell, ascending, with more or less of albumen ; em- 

 bryo straight, with flat cotyledons. — Herbs, shrubs, or rarely trees, the stel- 

 late tomentum occasionally mixed with spreading hairs. Leaves serrate. 

 Flowers small, axillary or terminal, clustered or in cymes or panicles. 



A large genus, dispersed over the warmer regions of the globe, the herbaceous and suflfru- 

 ticose species chiefly American. The two Australian species are both herbaceous; one be- 

 longs to the Americau scries, the other is Asiatic. 



Capsule very aogular, pyramidal, much longer than the calyx , . , 1. M, pyramidata. 

 Capsule smallj globular %, 31. corchorifolia. 



1. M. pyramidata, Linn. ; DG. Prod, I 490. Herbaceous, with a hard 

 almost woody base, although sometimes annual only. Branches slender, 

 divaricate, often 2 or 3 ft. long, slightly pubescent in a decurrcnt line or all 

 over. Leaves petiolate, lanceolate, or the lower ones ovate, the larger ones 

 1 to 2 in. long, serrate, usually glabrous. Flowers small,' purplish, 2 to 4 

 together in little almost sessile axillary umbels. Calyx 10-ribbed, Petals 

 about 2 lines long. Capsule 3 to i lines long, acuminate, the very prominent 

 angles produced into short horizontal points, giving each valve a rlmmboidal, 

 and tlie whole capsule a pyramidal shape.— A, Gray, Gea. III. t. 134. 



Iff. Australia. Victoria river, F, Mueller. 

 Queensland. Roekharapton, Wallace, 



The species is very generally distributed over tropical America, and occurs also in E. 

 Africa, the Mauritius, and the Pacific islauds. 





