EBENACEAE 363 
Species about 30, tropics of both hemispheres, 2 or 3 in the Philippines, 
a single introduced one in our area. 
*1. M. ELENGI L. Bansalaguin (Tag.). 
A tree up to 15 m in height. Leaves green, shining, elliptic, shortly 
blunt-acuminate, glabrous, 5 to 12 em long, the nerves slender, numerous, 
spreading. Flowers axillary, solitary, in pairs or fascicled, about 1.5 
em in diameter, fragrant, the pedicels and sepals brownish-pubescent. 
Sepals 8, 2-seriate, ovate-lanceolate, 7 to 8 mm long. Corolla-lobes lan- 
ceolate, about 24, white, 2-seriate, the outer series with about 16 lobes, 
the inner with 8. Stamens 8, filaments hairy, the alternating staminodes 
hairy. Ovary pubescent. Fruit ovoid, about 2 cm long, 1-, rarely 2-seeded. 
(Fl. Filip. pl. 105.) : 
Occasionally cultivated for its fragrant flowers, introduced from India; 
fl. at intervals throughout the year. A closely allied form is common 
especially near the seashore throughout the Philippines, to which the Ta- 
galog name bansalaguin properly belongs. 
2. ACHRAS Linnaeus = 
A tree, nearly glabrous, except the flowers. Leaves petioled, somewhat . 
crowded near the apices of the branches, coriaceous, shining, the nerves 
slender. Flowers axillary, pedicelled, mostly solitary in the uppermost 
axils. Calyx-segments 6, in 2 series. Corolla-lobes 6, imbricate. Stamens 
6, affixed near the base of the corolla; staminodes 6, petal-like, alternating 
with the corolla-lobes. Ovary villous, 10- to 12-celled. Fruit ovoid, brown, 
fleshy, edible, the seeds few, rather large, black, shining. (Old Greek 
name for a kind of wild pear.) 
A monotypic genus of Central America and the West Indies. 
*1. A. sapoTa L. Chico (Sp.-Fil.). 
A much-branched tree reaching a height of 8 m. Leaves oblong to 
narrowly oblong-obovate, acute or shortly acuminate, base acute, 8 to 13 
em long. Flowers rusty-pubescent outside, 6 to 8 mm long. Fruit ovoid or 
subglobose, brown, fleshy, 3 to 5 cm long, the soft, rather sweet pulp edible. 
(Fl. Filip. pl. 85.) 
Commonly cultivated for its edible fruit, fl. most of the year. bitin 
from Mexico by the Spaniards at an early date and now found in all parts 
of the Archipelago. Tropics generally in cultivation. 
111. EBENACEAE (EBONY OR CAMAGON FAMILY) 
Trees or shrubs with alternate, exstipulate, entire, usually coriaceous 
leaves. Flowers usually dioecious, axillary, solitary, fascicled or in short 
cymes, the pedicels jointed under the flower. Flowers 3- to 5-merous. 
Calyx-lobes united below, often enlarged in fruit. Corolla-tube cylindric, 
usually pubescent outside, the lobes spreading or recurved. Stamens as 
many as the corolla-lobes, or 2 or 3 times as many, hypogynous, free or 
the filaments variously united, the female flowers with or without stamen- 
like staminodes. Ovary superior, free, sessile, 3- to 10-celled; styles 1 to 8; 
cells 1- or 2-ovuled. Fruit fleshy or coriaceous, globose or ovoid, indehiscent, 
few- to several-seeded. 
Genera 7, species 325, in the tropics and some temperate countries in 
both hemispheres, 2 genera and about 40 species in the Philippines. 
