C'XV. BUPHORBIACilA. 583 



fleshy ; cotyledons broad ; radicle long. — Distkib. Tropical Asia, Africa, 

 and Pacific Islands ; species about 12. 



Calyx greatly enlarged in fruit 1. B. patens. 



Calyx not or scarcely enlarged in fruit 2. B. rhamnoides. 



1. Breynia patens, Rolfe, in Joum. Bot. N. 8. v. 11 (1882) p. 359. 

 A shrub or small tree with spreading branches ; bark smooth, grey ; 

 branchlets slender, angular, glabrous. Leaves numerous, distichous, 

 h-^\ by 3-§ in., membianous, broadly eUiptic, obtuse, glabrous, glaucous 

 beneath ; main nerves 3-5 pairs ; petioles -^^ in. long ; stipules yq iu. 

 long, subulate from a triangular base, persistent. Flowers appearing 

 with the young leaves, axillary on filiform pedicels, the males in the 

 lower, the females in the upper axils. Male flowers pale yellow, in 

 fascicles of 1-3. Calyx turbinate or campanulate, yV~i iu- long, 

 truncate or crenate at the mouth. Anthers adnate throughout their 

 entire length to the acure staminal-column which is produced beyond 

 them. Female flowers greenish. Pedicels shorter than in the male. 

 Calyx deeply divided into 6 rounded apiculate segments. Ovary 

 truncate ; styles 3, stout, 2-fid. Fruit depressed-globose, h-'^ in. in 

 diam., faintly 3-lobed, orange-red, fleshy but dehiscent, seated on the 

 greatly enlarged colored calyx. Seeds 3-quetrous with an orange- 

 yellow aril; testa perforate at the hilum. Fl. B. I. v. 5, p. 329; Trim. 

 Fl. Ceyl. V. 4, p. 33 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 303 ; Woodr. in Joum. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 370; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 933. Melanthesa 

 obliqiia, Wight, Icon. t. 1898. M. tuybmata, Wight, Icon. v. 5, part 2, 

 p. 26, t. 1897 (by error in Tab. tnmcata) ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 234. 

 MelantJu'soiJsis patens, Muell. Arg. in DC. Prodr. v. 15, part 2 (1866) 

 p. 437 ; Bedd. in For. Man. in Flor. Sylvat. p. cxcvi. Phj/UantJms tiir- 

 hiiiatus. Keen, ex Eoxb. Hort. Beng. (1814) p. 104; Grab. Cat. p. 180. 

 — Flowers : Apr.-June. Veen. Kangli. 



KoNKAN : Law !, Talbot ; Malabar and Worli Hills (Bombay), Graham ; Salsette, 

 Graham. Deccan : Khaudala, Woodroiv ; Lanoli, Kanifkarl Kanaka: Talbot; 

 Yellapur, Woodroiv ! — Distrib. India (Tropical Himalaya, Assam, Chittagong, Birma, 

 W. Peninsula) ; Ceylon. 



2. Breynia rhamnoides, Muell. Arg. in DC. Prodr. v. 15, part 2 

 (1866) p. 440. A large glabrous shrub with many horizontal branches ; 

 bark yellowish ; branchlets angular, glabrous. Leaves numerous, thin, 

 distichous, spreading, f-l? by |-1 in., elliptic, obtuse or subacute, pale 

 beneath, base subactiteor rounded ; petioles ^ in. long; stipules ^ in. 

 long, subulate from a triangular base, persistent. Flowers minute, the 

 males usually in small fascicles, the females mostly solitary ; pedicels 

 filiform, variable in length. Male flowers: Calyx turbinate or sub- 

 cam pan ulate ; mouth entire or obscurely lobed. Staminal-column 

 truncate at the apex, produced beyond the adnate anthers. Female 

 flowers : Calyx cup-shaped, 6-lobed ; lobes acute. Ovary exserted, 

 oblong, truncate ; styles very short. Fruit globose, scarcely reaching 

 I in. in diam., smooth, succulent, dull-red. Seeds ^ in. long without 

 an aril ; testa imperforate except at the very base. Fl. B. I. v. 5, 

 p. 330 ; Bedd. For. Man. in Flor. Sylvat. p. cxcvi & Anal. Gen. t. 24, 

 fig. 2 (by error in Tab. Melanthesopsis patens) ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 4, 



