12 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 



Genera. 



Sonneratia, (Lin. fil.) Psidmm (Lin.) On these ge- 

 nera I have no remarks to offer. They are principally 

 remarkable, in the tribe, for the numerous cells of their 



ovary. 



Kelitris. Flowers quaternary or quinary : ovary4(?) 

 to 10-cclled, with fleshy partitions between the cells: 

 ovules solitary in each cell, ascending, reniform. 



2. Mtrtus. Flowers quinary, ovary 3-celled, with 

 numerous superposed ovules in each ; seeds several, 

 subreniform curved, testa hard, embryo cylindrical,curved- 



'3. JossiNiA. Flowers quaternary : ovary 2- celled, 

 placentas central, covered with numerous ovules : fruit 

 2 or 1- celled, by abortion, seed several, testa soft, coty- 

 ledons foliaceous (within a sparing albumen?) 



4. MuNOXOKA. Flowers quaternary: ovary 1-celled, 

 with two parietal placentas : ovules numerous : fruit 

 drupaceous containing several nuts (4 in two that I exa- 

 mined ) nuts 3, or, by abortion, 1-celled, with a cylin- 

 drical curved embrvo in each cell. 



5. PlMl^TA. Flowers quaternary or quinary: ovary 

 2-celled ; ovules 1 or several in each cell, pendulous from 

 a projecting placenta : seed 1 or several in each cell, 

 subreniform, testa thin, soft : embryo cylindrical, spiral- 

 ly involute, cotyledons conferruminate enclosed in a 

 soft gelatinous albumen. 



[This genus includes Engenea pimenta a and /j D.C. 

 the latter Myrcia acriSf and perhaps M. pimentoides of 

 the same author. The very unusual position of the 

 ovules, added to the peculiar seed, curved cylindrical 

 embryo and gelatinous albumen— like some of the con- 

 volvuli— leave no doubt as to this genus being equally 

 distinct from Myrttis, Myrcia and Engenia, with all of 

 which its species have been confounded.] 



6. Eugenia. Flowers quaternary rarely quinary or 

 with numerous petals : ovary 2-celled, placentas axil- 

 lary ; ovules numerous : fruit subdrupacious 2 or 1-cell- 

 ed, by abortion, with one or two seed : seed usually glo- 

 bose ; cotyledons thick and fleshy, variously lobed or 

 conferrumiuate, radicle small between the cotyledons. 



SuB-GnxERA OF Eugenia. 



1. EuKUGET^iA. Limb of the calyx, 4-parted down to 

 the ovary. Pedicels axillary one-flowcrcd. 

 ^ 2. Jambosa. Calyx tube turbinate, rarely cylindrical: 

 limb produced considerably beyond the ovary,cup-shaped,' 

 margm 4-cleft. Cymes lateral or terminal ; flowers usu- 

 ally large ; fruit often edible. 



3. Caryofhylus. Calyx tube cylindrical,limb deeply 

 4-cleft. Cymes terminal somewhat corymbose ; flowers 

 highly aromatic ; fruit subdrupacious, succulent one or 

 two seeded. 



-A. Calyx tube long clavate ; limb much 



4, AcM 



produced beyond the ovary ; margin truncated, entire, or 

 repandly 4 or 5-lobed. Flowers numerous, inflorescence 

 various, racemose or corymbosely panicled; petals 4-5, 

 or numerous (10-12) either free or cohering, calvptri' 

 form ; fruit small, subdrupacious. " 



iM^' r'^^u'^^^M^'^' Calyx tube short, contracted, pedicel- 

 Jike; Imib dilated, cup-shaped, much produced beyond 



^RTACEiE OF THE TRIBE MYRTEiE GENERA. 



the ovary, margin truncated, entire or repandly lobed. 

 Cymes corymbose ; flowers small, petals cohering or free ; 

 fruit subdrupacious usually one-seeded.sometimes edible. 



Nelitris, GcBrt.^ DC. 



Of this genus I have only seen one species N. pamcu- 

 lata? Lind. in which I find the ovary 8-celled with a 

 single ascending reniform ovule in each. Lindley des- 

 cribes the ovary of his N. paniculata as 4 -celled, hence 

 the doubt expressed as to my plant being the same, 

 though from the same country, Malacca, and its general 

 agreement with his specific character. My plant has a 

 4-lobed calyx and 4 petaled corolla, both copiously fur- 

 nished with pellucid dots. So far as I can judge from 

 the ovary only, for the fruit on my specimens are far too 

 young to enable me to form any opinion either of its 

 structure or that of the seed, there seems so much affini- 

 ty between this genus and Pomacea as almost to render 

 it doubtful whether it belongs to MyrtaceiS. 



MiRTUS, Lin. — G(srL 



M. comrnuvis a cultivated plant, and M, tomentosus are 

 the only true species of this genus I have seen and they 

 differ so widely in some points, from each other, that 

 they seem scarcely referable to the same genus. 



JossiNiA. Comm. DC, 



Of this genus I have one species, found on the Sheva- 

 gherry hills near Courtallum. It has so much the habit 

 of a Eugenia that I at first ranked it with that frenus ; 

 a more careful examination of the seed, eveu though 

 still immature, has shown that it must be excluded. 



J, ijidica leaves short petioled, obovate spathulate, 

 glabrous on both sides, peduncles axillary, solitary, or 

 congested, sometimes, from abortion of leaves, corymbose 

 on the ends of the branches, one flowered: tube of the 

 calyx globose, clothed with short whitish tomentum, limb 

 4-lobed, lobes persistent :' ovary and fruit 2-celled, seed 

 several in each, testa polished soft ; cotyledons fohacious. 



None of the fruit i examined were mature but several 

 were sufficiently advanced to admit of the above points 

 being readily made out, showing clearly that it is neither 

 referable to M?jrlus nor Eugenia, the only genera in this 

 country with which I can compare it. 



MONOXORA. jR. JV. 



The type of this genus is Blnmc's My rtus spccidbilis 

 the one-celled ovary (whence the name) with 2 parietal 

 placentas and several celled nuts, clearly distinguish it 

 from that and all other genera of the order, I accord- 

 ingly separate it as a distinct genus. 



PiMiNTA. Lind^ 



This genus is founded on Myrtm pzmmta Lin. i?M- 

 gema Pimenta D.C. and Eugenia acris W. and A. Prod, 

 the ^ Pi7nenta var /3, ovadfolia D.C. and Mf/rcia acris 

 and Pimentoides D.C. 



' ^^'^'^^ -^^^^'tz^ ^^:,^^^ ^^' ^:^ ^^ 



