620 CXT. EFPHORBTACBiE. 



33. HOMONOIA, Lour. 



Eigid slii'ub^. Leaves alternate, narrow and subentire, or short aud 

 toothed, glandidar-lepidote. Flowers usually dioecious, in many or few- 

 fiowered axilhuT spikes or from the old wood. PcM-ianth simple. Male 

 FLOWERS ; Calyx globose, spUtting into 3 valvato segments. Petals 0. 

 Disk 0. Stamens iuany, in a dense globose cluster of I'epeatedly 

 branching filaments ; anthers with subglobose cells, sessile on the 

 filament-branches, divaricate, the connective obscure. Pistillode 0. 

 Pemale flowers : Sepals 5-8, narrow, imbricate, unequal, Petals 0. 

 Disk 0. Ovary 3-cellcd ; ovule 1 in each cell ; styles entire or slightly 

 connate at the base, spreading. Capsule small, of three smooth 2-valved 

 cocci. Seeds rounded ou the back, slightly angular on the inner face ; 

 testa crustaceous, hard, with a thin fleshy coat ; albumen fleshy ; 

 cotyledons broad, flat.— Distrib. Species 3 or 4 Indian and Malayan. 



Leaves linear-oblong ; spikes long, slender 1 . H. riparia. 



Leaves obovate ; spikes short, stoat 2. H. return. 



1. Homonoia riparia, Lour. M. CocMnch. (1790) p. 637. A rigid 

 evergi-een willow-like shrub ; branchlets, young leaves and inflorescence 

 piibescenr. Leaves numerous, erect, all closely set, 3-6 by g-| in., 

 linear-oblong or linear-lanceolate, acute, apiculate, entire or more or less 

 toothed, ghiiu-ous above, clothed beneath with scattered and numerous 

 minute orbicular scales, base acute or rounded; main nerves numerous, 

 10-30 pairs with reticulate venation between ; petioles |-| in. long ; 

 stipules 1 in. long, linear-lanceolate, acute. Flowers dioecious, sessile, 

 in axillary bracteate spikes 2-5 in. long ; rhachis pubescent ; bracts 

 ovate, acuminate, pubescent, ^^ in. long. Male flowers: Sepals 3, 

 broadly elliptic, acute, conca\e, veined, glabrous, ^ in. long. Stamens 

 very numerous, in globose heads ; anthers red. Female flowers : 

 Sepals usually 5, narrowly ovate, acuminate, ^o in. long. Ovary 

 pubescent; styles 3, shortly connate at the base, nearly | in. long, 

 papillose. Capsules globose, ^ in. in diam., tomentose. Seeds yi. in. 

 long, rounded on the back, slightly angular on the inner face, smooth, 

 yellowish-brown. Fl. B. I. v. 5, p. 455 ; Bedd. For. Man. in Flor. 

 Sylvat. p. ccxii ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 4, p. 72 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, 

 p. 318; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1899) p. 372; Prain, 

 Beng. PL p. 951 ; Watt, Diet. ]']con. Prod. v. 4, p. 263. Adelia nerii- 

 folia, Botii, Nov. PI. Sp. p. 375; Grab. Cat. p. 185; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 "p. 231 ; Wiglit, Icon. t. 1868. — Flowers: Jan.-A])r. A>.rn. Semi. 



Kr)NKAN : in river beds, Law I, Talbui ; Amheghat, Wixidroio. Deccan : Koina 

 river, Coolc ! ; Ijeds of streams in the ravines of Maliableshwar, Cooke ! S. Af. Country : 

 Ri'unghat, /?//(•///'', 070 ! Kanaka: Talbot; Karwar, Woodrow; Kala \\i\.M\, liifchie, 

 tt70! "DisTiiiB. India (Assam, N. Bengal, Birraa, Central Provinces, W. Peninsula); 

 C'f^ylon, Cneliinc'liiua, Java. 



2. Homonoia retusa, MnelJ. Arr/. hi Linnrva, v. 31 (18()5) p. 200. 

 A small rigid glabrous shrub 2-4 ft. high; branches stout, woody. 

 Leaves 1-2 by \-'^ in., sessile or nearly so, rigidly coriaceous, obovate or 

 cuneate-obovate, or oi)lanceolate, tootbed towards the top, glabrous 

 above, si)arsely glandular beneath ; nerves 6-10 pairs. Flowers sessile 

 in short stout spikes |-1 in. long; rhachis glabrous; bracts ovate, 



