492 ClI. AMAIIA>'TACE^. 



simple or panicled spikes; bracts and 2 bracteoles small. Perianth 

 5 (rarel}'' 4)-]obed ; sepals equal or the outer broader, all or only the 

 3 inner woolly. Stamens 5 (rarely 4) ; hlaments connate, with short 

 or long intervening staminodes, in a short hypogynous cup ; anthers 

 2-celled. Ovary ovoid or subglobose, 1 - celled ; ovule solitary, pendulous 

 from a long basal funicle ; style simple, short or long ; stigma capitellate, 

 or stigmas 2. Fruit a membranous utricle or circumscissile capsule 

 with coriaceous crown. Seed inverse ; testa coriaceous ; embryo annular, 

 surrounding floury albumen ; cotyledons linear ; radicle superior. — 

 DiSTEiB. Tropical Asia and Africa ; species about 15. The oldest 

 name for the genus is Ouret (Adans. Fam. PI. v. 2 (1763) p. 268). 

 This has been adopted by Hieru [Cat. Welw. Afr. PI. v. 1, part 4 (1900) 

 p. 893]. 



Sepals 5. 



Spikes axillary and terniinal. 



Erect; leaves alternate ; flowers unisexual, dioecious 1. M. javanica. 



Climbing; leaves alternate and opposite ; flowers bisexual... 2. JE. scan dens. 

 Spikes all axillary ; leaves alternate ; flowers unisexual and 



bisexual 3. M.lanata. 



Sepals 4 ; leaves filiform, fascicled ; flowers bisexual 4. M. MonsonicB. 



1. iffirua javanica, Juss. in Ami. Mus. Par. v. 2 (1803) p. 131. 

 Suffruticose, hoary-tomentose, 2-3 ft. high ; stem terete, branched, as 

 thick as a goose-quill, covered with a thick, easily detachable stellate 

 tomentum. Leaves alternate, variable, l-2i by g-g in., sessile or nearly 

 so, linear-oblong or oblong-spathulate, obtuse and slightly refuse, or 

 acute, densely tomentose. Plowers unisexual, usually dioecious, dull- 

 white, sessile in linear or oblong spikes 1-6 in. long arranged in naked 

 terminal panicles ; bracteoles broadly ovate, acute, white, hyaline. 

 Male eloweus : Perianth rather more than y^^r in. long ; sepals elliptic- 

 oblong, subobtuse, woolly at the back. Rudimentary ovary ovoid, acute, 

 usually shortly stipitate with a short style and minutely bifid stigma. 

 Pemale flowers : Perianth -J^ in. long ; sepals oblong, subacute, 

 apiculate ; style about Jjj in. long ; stigmas 2, as long as the style. 

 Utricle orbiculai'-ovoid, very thin. Seed -^^ in. in diam., lenticular, 

 shining, brown-black. 



I have examined a large number of female flo\^ei"s, but have not 

 found the ring of staminodes depicted in Wight's Icon. t. 876, fig. 4. 

 Fl. B. I. V. 4, p. 727; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 216 ; Wight, Icon. t. 876 ; 

 Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 3, p. 402 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) 

 p. 364; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 1, p. 124.— Flowers : Aug.-Aov. 

 Veen. Buwado (Sindi). 



Deccan: Bijapur, CooJa'\ Sind : Sbikarpur, Cookcl; Ruk Junction near Railway 

 Station, Cookel — Di-stiuh. India (Panjiib, Central India, Birma, W. Peninsula); 

 Ceylon, Arabia, Tropii'al Africa, Cape de Verde Islands. 



Very close to if really distinct from A'^rHci fo/ncn/osti, Lam. IVfr. C. B. Clarke, wlio 

 has beea recently si ndying the African species, informs lue that in his opinion the 

 African plant is distinct from the Indian one. 



2. .ffirua scandens, Wall. du. (1828) 6911. A climbing under- 

 slirul) ; branches straggling, more or less pubescent or tomentose, terete, 

 striate. Leaves altm-nate and o])posite, 1^-4 by |-H in., elliptic- 

 lanceolate, acute, finely nnicronate, pubescent, base tapering into a 

 short petiole i h i''- l'"^o- Flowers bise.xiial, in ovoid or cylindric 



