236 xxn, STERCULIACE.^:. \JFaUheria. 



Leaves serrate. Stipules narrow. PloAvers usually small, axillary or tennuial 

 in clustei's, hcaJs, cymes, or panicles. 



The species are mostly Ainorican, two are African, and two from the Pacific islauds. The 

 Australian species is one which is very generally dispersed over the tropical regions of both 

 the- Old World and the New. 



1. W. americana, L'mn. ; DC, Prod, i. 492, A perennial or under- 

 shrub, 1 to 3 ft. or more high, densely tomentosc or softly villous in every 

 part. Leaves shortly petiolate, from ovate to oblong, 1 to 1|- in. long, obtuse, 

 toothed and plicately veined. Fio^vers small, yellow, in dense heads, almo^st 

 sessile in the axils of the leaves, or the upper ones clustered in a short spike, 

 or irregularly collected into dense cymes or leafy corymbs. Bracts narrow. 

 Calyx 1\ to 2 lines long. Petals nearly twice as long, narrow. — W, indica, 

 Linn.; DC. Prod. i. 493. . 



N. Australia. Cainl)ridge Gulf, A, Cunningham ; Victoria river and Arnlieia s Land, 

 F. Mueller; Port Essington, Armstrong; Gulf of Carpentaria, E, Brown, Landsborough. 

 Queensland. Cape Flinders, A, Cunningham; Port Dcuison, Fitzalan. 

 The species is common within or near the tropics all ronud the globe. 



ABROMA 



Calyx 5 -cleft. Petals 5, the claw dilated and concave at the base, the 

 lamina- stipitate, ovate, plane. Staminal cup with 5 obcordate lobes (stami- 

 nodia) alternating with the petals, anthers 2 to 4 in each sinus, nearly sessile, 

 with divaricate cells. Ovary sessile, 5-celled with several ovvdes in each cell; 

 styles 5, short, connivent. Capsule membranous, truncate, 5-ansled, the 



late pubescence. Leaves entire or palmately lobed. Peduncles leaf-opposed 

 or terminal, few-flowered. Dissepiments of the capsule fringed at the inner 

 edge with long hairs. . 



A genus of two or three species from tropical Asia, cue of them the same as the Austra- 

 lian one. • 



1. A. fastuosa, R, Br. ; DC. Prod. i. 485. A tall shrub, the branches 



softly pubescent, and b^taring a few minute conical prickles. Leaves shortly 

 petiolate, obliquely cordate-ovate, acuminate, 4 to 6 in. long, undivided, 

 slightly sinuate-toothed, nearly glabrous above, softly pubescent underneath. 

 Peduncles yeiy much shorter than the leaves, bearing a cluster of 3 to 5 

 shortly pediccilale flowers, one only usually fertile. Bracts linear, dccitluous. 



Sepals narrow-lanceolate, about \ in. long. Petals rather exceeding them, 



of their upper angle. Seeds 10 to 12 in each cell.— G'^rtn. Fr. i. L. 64; 

 Salisb. Parad. Loud. t. 102. 



Queensland- Endeavour river, R, Brown {(lb. R, Br.). 

 The species is widely distributed over the Eastern Archipelago. 





