LXXYII. LOGANTACEiE. 



349 



A small Order, ranging over the tropical regions of the New as well as the Old World, 

 with a few extratropical species in the southern hemisphere and in North America. Of the 

 five Australian genera, one is sparins;ly represented in New Zealand, another has a very few 

 South Asiatic species, a third bclontrs chietlv to the tropical Asiatic and Polynesian region, 

 a fourth is iu tropical and suhtropical Asia and America, the fifth is spread over tropical 

 Asia, Africa, and America. The Order is a somewhat hetero-encous group of genera, 

 aiifering from Rnbiacem in the free ovary and less developed stii^ules, and closely connecting 

 that Order with Apocpiea, Gentia'nets^ and ScropJndarinecB. 



Herbs. Corolla-lobes valvate. Capsules 2-lobed or truncate. 



Flowers 5-mcrous, in dichotomous cymes !• Mitreola. 



Flowers 4-merous, ou simple solitary or clustered pedicels .... 3. Mitkasacme, 

 Herbs uudershriibs or shrubs. Corolla-lobes imbricate, not contorted. 



Flowers usually 5-mcrous. Capsule septicidally dehiscent .... 3. LOGAXtA. 

 Shrubs or trees. Corolla-lobes imbricatc-contorted. 



Fruit a capsule. Mowers small in axillary clusters or cymes ... 4. Geniostoma. 



Fruit a berry. Flowers usually large in terminal cymes or panicles . 5. i agr.ea. 

 Shrubs trees or woody climbers. Corolla-lobes valvate. Fruit a berry. 



■leaves 3- or 5-neryed «• Strychnos. 



1. MITEEOLA, Liun. 



Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla-tube cylindrical, liairj^ inside at the throat ; lobes 

 5, valvate in the bud. Stamens "s, included in the corolla-tube. Uvary ^^' 

 celled, with several ovules in each cell, the summit broad with 2 styles ms- 

 tinct at the base but united in a small capitate stigma, very rarely separatuig 

 to the end at the time of flowerimr. Capsule broad at the top, truncate or 

 2-lobed, the carpels more or less diverging or separating when npe and open- 

 ing along their inner margin. Seeds numerous, small ; embryo hneai% witii 

 small cotyledons.— Herbs. Plowers small, in dichotomous cymes. iJracts 

 small. 



The genus is dispersed over tropical Asia and tropical and northern America, and consists 

 of but very few species. The Australian one is not uncommon in tropical Asia. 



1. M. oldenlaudioides, fTull. ; A. DC. Prod. ix. 9. An erect annual. 

 °f i to \\ ft., glabrous or nearly so. Leaves ovate or oval-oblong, acumi- 

 nate, narrowed into a rather long petiole, 1 to 2 in. long ; stipules mmute 

 Cymes dichotomous, terminal or^in the upper axils ; the flowers scarcely 1 

 l;ne long, nearly sessile along the slender branches or more pe^^"^ellate in the 

 o^b. Corolla not twice aslong as the calyx ; styles /^^y ^^or , urn ed at 

 ^^i« stigma. Capsule 1^ to neariy 2 lines broad at the top, the lobes foirnmg 

 2 horns very div4ricate at the base with the ends shortly incurved Seeds 

 ^i-y small, ovoid or oblong, smooth.— Benth. in Journ. Lmn. boc. i. yi, 

 Hook. Ic. PL t. 827. 



, N. Australia. Arnhem's Land. F. M.eller. We have the same species from the 



2. MITSASAOME, Labill. 



. Calyx campanulate, 4-lobed or rarely 2-lobcd.^ Corolla-tube ^^^.^^ 

 Wd or elongated and cylindrical ; lobes 4, spreading, valvate and ^om^hmes 

 'edupliente in the bud. Stamens 4, inserted in the tube ; anthers included 



