350 A FLORA OF MANILA 
1. L. racemosa Willd. Solasi (Tag., in Paramaque and Maricaban). 
A shrub or a small tree, flowering when 1 m high or less. Leaves 
fleshy, green, shining, narrowly obovate, 2.5 to 7 cm long, apex rounded, 
retuse, gradually narrowed to the acute base, short-petioled. Racemes 
axillary, 2 to 6 em long. Calyx oblong-cylindric, green, 5 to 6 mm long, 
the teeth short. Petals white, oblong, about 4 mm long. Stamens 10, 
as long as the petals. Fruit green, oblong, about 1.5 cm long, crowned by 
the persistent calyx-rim. (FI. Filip. pl. 126.) ; 
Along tidal streams, Maricaban, Parafiaque, etc., fl. Dec—Mar., here 
2 m high or less; occasional in similar habitats in the Philippines. Trop- 
ical shores of Africa and Asia, through Malaya to Australia and Polynesia. 
The one other species found in the Philippines, L. littorea (Jack) Voigt 
(L. coccinea W. & A.), is distinguished by its terminal inflorescence, 
crimson flowers, and its stamens about twice as long as its petals; it has 
not been found in our area, but is much the commoner species of the two in 
the Philippines. 
4. COMBRETUM: Linnaeus 
Scandent shrubs or suberect with pendulous branches. Leaves opposite, 
entire, petioled. Flowers usually in panicled spikes or racemes, polygamo- 
dioecious, bracteoles small. Calyx-tube slender below, slightly contracted 
above the ovary, then expanded and ovoid, funnel-shaped, or tubular, the 
limb 4- or 5-toothed. Petals 4 or 5, inserted on the calyx-limb, small. 
Stamens twice as many as the petals, inserted in 2 series. Ovary inferior, 
1-celled; ovules 2 to 5. Fruit indehiscent, dry, 4- or 5-winged. (A Latin 
name of uncertain application.) 
Species about 130, tropics generally, 4 in the Philippines. 
1. C. squamosum Roxb. 
A scandent shrub reaching a length of 5 m or more. Leaves opposite, 
elliptic-ovate, glabrous on the upper surface, beneath covered with small 
round scales, apex acute or shortly acuminate, base rounded, 8 to 16 cm 
long. Inflorescence 6 to 15 cm long, axillary, of racemosely arranged scaly 
spikes, the spikes 3 to 6 cm long. Flowers white, the calyx-tube slender 
below, expanded above, the limb about 4 mm long, funnel-shaped. Petals 
small. Fruit 2 to 2.5 em long, broadly 4-winged. 
In thickets, Masambong, fil. Dec._Jan.; widely distributed in the Philip- 
pines. India to Malaya. 
103. MYRTACEAE! (MYRTLE OR DUHAT FAMILY) 
Trees or shrubs with opposite, rarely alternate, simple, entire or toothed, 
often pellucid-dotted leaves, exstipulate, or stipules very small and decid- 
uous. Flowers regular, perfect, solitary, or in spikes, corymbs, or heads. 
Calyx 4- or 5-toothed or lobed, the limb persistent or deciduous. Petals 
free, or sometimes united into a disk-like operculum, alternating with the 
calyx-lobes, or rarely wanting. Stamens very many, rarely few, inserted on 
the disk with the petals. Ovary inferior, 1- to many-celled; ovules num- 
erous; style simple. Fruit fleshy or capsular, indehiscent or dehiscent, 1- 
to many-seeded. 


For the Philippine species of this family see Robinson, C. B., “A Prelim- 
inary Revision of Philippine Myrtaceae.” Philip. Journ. Sci. 4 (1909) 
Bot. 331-407. . 
