Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. 507 



Panicles of male flowers axillarj' or terminal, as long as or mucli longer 

 than the leaves, very slender, with many spreading branches, every- 

 where minutely tomentose like tlie young branches. Male flowejis in 

 lateral cymules from the branchlets, sub-sessile, less than "1 in. long ; 

 calyx tubular-cam panulate, the lobes erect, oblong-triangular, sub-acute, 

 rusty-tomentose externally ; petals oblong, sub-acute, much longer than 

 the calyx, adpi'essed-pubescent outside, villous in the lower half inside ; 

 staviens shorter than the petals, the anthers small, elliptic ; ilae filaments 

 subulate, villous, ovary none. Panicles of male flowers shorter than 

 the males :/fimaZe j^ower** not seen. Drupe globose, apiculate, minutely 

 tomentose like the panicle, '5 to '75 in. in diam. Engler in DC. Mon, 

 Phan. IV, 469. 



Malacca : Maingay, No. 492. Perak : King's Collector, No. 3359. 

 9. Melanochyla nitida, King n. sp. A tree ; young branches 

 rather slender, angled and dark-coloared when dry. Leaves very coria- 

 ceous, oblong-elliptic or oblanceolate-obl.ong, shortly bluntly and rather 

 abruptly acuminate, narrowed from the middle or below it to the long 

 plano-convex stout petiole : both surfaces quite glabrous; the upper 

 shining and not reticulate ; the lower paler, dull, with the wide reticu- 

 lations slightly prominent ; main nerves 12 to 16 pairs, slightly promi- 

 nent on both surfaces when dry, spreading and curving upwards : 

 length 4 to 11 in., breadth 225 to 3"25 in. ; petiole 1 to 2 in , thickened 

 in tiie lower half or third. Panicles terminal, minutely tomentose, but not 

 felted, slightly longer than the leaves ; the branches few, scattered, ascend- 

 ing, having few spicate short branchlets bearing the flowers in ultimate 

 sessile cymules. Mali? Fi.owiins more than "1 in. long, sessile, crowded; 

 calyx coriaceous, campanulate, deeply cut into 5 broadly-triangular 

 acute sub-erect concave segments, tomentose outside : petals 5, triangu- 

 lar-oblong, thick, longer than the calyx-teeth, adpressed-pubescent ex- 

 ternally but with broad glabrous edges ; internally glabrous but with 

 a large tuft of coarse hairs on the middle of the lower half : stamens 5, 

 shorter than the petals, the filaments densely villous ; disc small, vil- 

 lous in the middle ; ovary none. Female flowers 2 in. long, on short 

 pedicels ; stamens present but apparently without pollen ; ovary filling 

 the whole fundus of the flower, hemispheric, densely rusty-tomentose, 

 tapering into a short stout conical hairy style ; stigma sub-capitate. 

 Drupe unknown. 



Pefak : Scortechini, No. 2037 ; Wray. Penang : Curtis, No. 1496. 

 Perak : King's Collectors, No. 6722. 



The nearest ally of this is M. angustifolia which has, however, its 

 young branches and panicles covered with a thin felted layer of minute 

 tomeutum ; whereas, in this plant, the young branches are glabrous 



793 



