| Backhousia.] XLVIII. MYRTACER, 271 
small, numerous in umbel-like clusters on peduncles of 1 in. or more in the 
upper axils or at the ends of the branches, the slender pedicels above 4 in. 
long. Calyx-tube pubescent, broadly campanulate, about 1 line long, outer 
lobes broad and scarcely longer than the tube, inner ones longer and narrowed 
atthe base. Petals shorter than the calyx, but not seen expanded. Ovary 
in the bottom of the calyx, semiadnate with a conical top, very rarely with a 
third cell ; ovules about 6 to 8 in each cell, pendulous from a cuneate pla- 
centa suspended from the summit of the cell. After flowering the summit of 
the ovary protrudes much from the calyx, and shows no sign of splitting, but 
the ripe fruit not seen. 
Queensland. Woods near Moreton Bay, W. Hill, F. Mueller—Notwithstanding the 
Ee in the placentation, this species cannot well be generically separated from the pre- 
€ one. 
37. OSBORNIA, F. Muell. 
subulate, rather thick, with a small . Fruit adnate to and included in 
scareely enlarged calyx-tube, and crowned by the persistent lobes, appa- 
rently dry and indehiscent. S or 2, obovoi testa ; 
t 
embryo straight, with thick flattened or hemispherical cotyledons longer than 
the radicle. —Shru . Leaves opposite, penniveined. Flowers small, sessile, 
solitary in the axils or terminal and three together. Bracteoles deciduous. 
The genus is limited to the single Australian species, and shows no immediate affinity to 
any other one, except in some measure to Backhousia. 
l. O. octodonta, F. Muell. Fragm. iii. 31. A bushy shrub, glabrous 
pt the flowers. Leaves obovate-oblong, very obtuse, $ to 14 in. long, 
narrowed into a very short petiole, thickened at the base, and leaving a- 
ends of the branches, Calyx white with a close tomentum or short down, 
«Jarrow, 2 to 23 lines long; lobes shorter, oblong, very obtuse, much 
imbricate in the bud. Fruit apparently dry, but not hard. 
a. Islands of the Gulf of e to mie and Arnhem N. and S. Bays, F. 
Brown ; Port Essington, Armstrong ; Trinity Bay, Henne. 
wm HH. Myrrex.—Ovary divided into 2 or more cells, or if 1-celled 
de Placentas. Fruit an indehiscent berry or a drupe. Leaves opposite, 
38. RHODOMYRTUS, DC. 
 , Calyx-tube turbinate, oblong or nearly globular, scarcely or not at all pro- 
e ovary ; 
duced above th or 5, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 4 or 5, 
ng. Stamens numerous in several series, free; filaments filiform ; 
