NOTES OX JAMAICA PLANTS 269 



by Fuertes, and an examination of this and of some excellent material 

 of both male and female specimens sent from Jamaica by Mr. W. 

 Harris has enabled us to supply the characters necessary to comjDlete 

 the diagnosis of the genus as follows : — 



Dioecious. Male inflorescence of stalked axillary spikes crowded at 

 the ends of dw^arf branches and appearing with the leaves ; flowers 

 solitary or clustered, sessile, consisting of 16-32 stamens surrounded 

 by an inyolucre of 4-6 imbricate bracts ; perianth wanting ; filaments 

 very short, anthers 2-celled, basifixed, dehiscing longitudinally ; 

 pollen minutely muriculate ; rudiment of ovary wanting. Female 

 lowers stalked, solitar}-, axillary; calyx of 4 unequal valvate free 

 sepals bearing minute glands at the base ; petals absent ; staminodes 

 absent; ovary inferior, 2-celled, outer wall containing numerous 

 vesicles ; style terminal, slender, bearing 2 large spreading stigmas, 

 ovules 2 in each cell, pendulous from apex of centml axis, anatropous, 

 raphe ventral, integuments two ; a reddish-brown cushion-like out- 

 growth (obturator) springing from the placenta just above the insertion 

 of the pair of ovules and closely roofing over the two micropyles. The 

 obturator does not develop with the growth of the seed but becomes 

 withered. 



The fruit, which is well known, is a drupe, the thin fleshy exocarp 

 full of vesicles contains a very bitter juice : the woody brittle endo- 

 carp marked with 4 equidistant longitudinal lines, contains generally 

 one, occasionally 2 seeds, one in each cell. The seed is pendulous from 

 the top of the cell, and without endosperm ; testa membranous infolded 

 between the folds of the cotyledons ; radicle superior. The plant is a 

 deciduous tree from 20 to 40 ft. high, with alternate long-stalked 

 digitately trifoliolate leaves ; leafiets elliptical to lanceolate. 



The presence and form of the obturator at once suggested the 

 family Eupliorhiacece and this affinity is borne out by other floral 

 characters. 



Btrsonima. 



In elaborating the Jamaican species of Bjysonima we have been 

 unable to follow the arrangement adopted b}^ Niedenzu (in Arb. Bot. 

 Inst. Braunsb. 20 June, 1901), who in our opinion relies too much on 

 the characters of the bracts. The following three species are allied 

 to B. coriacea DC. The Jamaican species of the genus may be 

 ari-anged as follows : — 



Inflorescence tomentose. 



Bracts not more than 4 mm. 1. 



Pedicels over 8 mm. 1 B. coriacea DC. 



Pedicels not over 8 mm. 1. 



Leaves leathery, glabrous ... B. Craif/iatia, sp. nov. j 

 Leaves paper}-, puberulous . . . B. SmaUii, sp. nov. 



Bracts f oliaceous, to 1 cm. 1 B. hracteata, sp. nov. 



Inflorescence glabrous or with a few silky 



hairs ^' glaherrima Nied. 



Byrsonima bracteata, sp. nov. Frutex circa 3 m. alt. Folia 

 elliptica, apice obtusa vel subrotundata, basi obtusa vel cuneata 



