Rkamnus.] xxxvi. ehamne^. 413 



style, witli as many short stigmatic lobes as ovary-cells. Drupe succulent, 

 globular or oblong, containing 2 to 4 bony or cartilaginous pyrenes, indehis- 

 cent or scarcely dchisccut. Seeds with a smooth testa; albumen fleshy; 

 cotyledons flat or recurved. — Shrubs or trees. Leaves alteniate, petiolate, 

 penninerved, entire or toothed, usually green on both sides. Stipules small, 

 deciduous. Flowers in clusters, either axillary and solitary or in axillary or 

 terminal racemes. 



The genus is widely dispersed over the northern hemisphere, rare in tropical regions. 

 The Australian species, which is in some measure doubtful, extends to the Fiji Islands. 



Quite 



Leaves 



ovate or oval-obloug, shortly acuminate, 2 to 3 in. long, entire or serrate- 

 crenate, green on both sides, thin and apparently deciduous. Flow^ers in 

 axillary sessile clusters, on slender pedicels of 3 or 4 lines. Calyx about 2 

 hnes long, tlui tube broadly hemispherical, the lobes triaugular, rather thin. 

 "etals involute, enclosing the stamens. Disk concave, broadly cup-shaped, 

 tlie marghi free. Ovary broadly sessile, 2-celied, tapering into a short style. 

 Fruit not sQQXi.—Coludnna vUieusis, Seem. Syst. List Yit. PI. 4. 



Queensland. Cape York, M'GiUivra^, Until the fruif is known, the genus of ttis 

 plant cannot be hte from doubt. The inflorescence and disk, however, arc those of Rham- 

 ^«-f, and the species seems to differ f voia E.javanica, Miq., chiefly in its thinner leaves. 

 Apparently the same species was gathered in the Fiji Islands by Seemann, and his specimens 

 have yonng fruits, of an obovoid- oblong shape, which, as far as they go, agree with those of 



4. COLUBBINA, L. C. Kich, 



Calyx 5-lohcd, spreading. Petals hood-shaped. Stamens 5, inclndcd in 

 ^he petals. Bisk thick, filling the calyx-tnbe. Ovary immersed in the disk, 

 3- or rarely 4-celled, tapering into a 3-, rarely 4-cleft style, with ohtuse 

 stigmas. Drupe nearly globular, obscurely lobed, the epicarp thin or succu- 

 Icnt,^ the endocarp separating into 3, rarely 4 membranous or crustaceous 

 coeci, opening inwards by a longitudinal slit. Seeds without any arillus ; 

 Ma smooth, shining, coriaceous; albumen fleshy but thin; cotyledons flat or 

 incurved, thin or rather thick.— Erect or half-climbing shrubs or trees. Leaves 

 ^ternate, 3-ncrved at the base or penninerved in species not Australian- 

 Stipules small, deciduous. Flowers small, in axillary cymes or clusters. 



The species are nearly all American, tropical or subtropical, with one from tropical Asia, 

 eitendiug also into Australia. 



1- C. asiatica, Brongn,; W. and Am. Trod. 166 (with the synonyms 

 auduced). A large shrub or small tree, unarmed, and quite glabrous, with 

 *'^^g, slender, often flexuose branches. Leaves petiolate, ovate or broadly 

 cordate, acuminate, 2 to 3 in. long, crenate-serrate, 3-nerved and penninen^ed, 

 sniooth and shining, but scarcely coriaceous. Cymes shortly pedunculate, 

 J^rely exceeding the petioles. Flowers greenish, about 2 lines diameter, 

 mit about 4 lines diameter, depressed at the top, fmrowed opposite the 

 ^issepiments, the endocarp separating more or less perfectly into 3 or rarely 

 ^ iQembranous cocci. 



Queensland. Cape York. M'GiUivray ; Cape Grafton and Rodd's Bay, A. Cunning^ 

 J^; Howick's Group, P. Mueller ; Shoalwater passage, K Brown ; Port DenisoD, Fiiz- 

 « an. The species is corniuou in tropical Asia, esteuding to the Pacific islands. 



