284 XXIV. STERCULIACE^. [Peiiiapetcs. 



10. PENTAPETES, L. 



Herb. Leaves hastate-lanceolate. Flowers axillary. Bracts 

 3, subulate. Sepals 5, lanceolate, connate at base. Petals 5, 

 bright red. Stamens 20, connate at base, 15 fertile in 5 groups 

 of 3, alternating with 5 staminodes, nearly as long as the petals; 

 anthers 2-celled, extrorse. Ovary sessile, 5-celled; cells many, 

 ovuled; style entire, twisted and thickened upwards, 5 minute 

 stigmas. Capsule 5-valved. Seeds 8 to 12 bi-seriate in each cell ; 

 not winged. Species i, tropical Asia. 



(i) P. phoenicea Z, /;?;;. Sp. PI. 698; Masters, in Hook. fil. F.B.I. 



An annual 2 to 4 ft. tall sparsely hair}^ or glabrescent. Leaves 

 3 to 5 in. long, narrow, '25 to 5 in. wide, serrate acuminate, base 

 truncate or hastate; nerves 20 pairs; petioles "25 to '5 in. long; 

 pedicels "25 in. long, bristly hairy as is the calyx, -3 in. long, lobes 

 lanceolate acute. Petals obovate rounded '5 in. long. Staminodes 

 sub-spathulate. Ovary bristly. Capsule oblong truncate, '5 in. 

 long, bristly, shorter than the enlarged sepals. Hah. Perils, fields 

 at Kanga, certainly wild. Distn'b. India, China, Java, Philippines. 



Often cultivated for its beautiful but fugacious flowers, and occasionally 

 occurring as an escape elsewhere. For one or two years it thus established 

 itself by the Tanglin post office in Singapore. 



11. MELOCHIA, L. 



Herbs or shrubs, more or less tomentose. Leaves simple. 

 Flowers in clusters or panicles. Sepals 5, connate below. Petals 5, 

 obovate clawed. Stamens 5, opposite the petals, connate below 

 in a tube. Ovary sessile, 5-celled, cells 2-ovuled; styles 5, free 

 or connate at base. Capsule loculicidally 5-valved. Species about 

 50, tropics generally. 



Wiry herb ; flowers in terminal and axillary heads . ( i ) M. COrchorif olia 

 Shrub or treelet ; cymes large, lax panicled . . (2) M. velutina 



(i) M. corchorifolia Linn. Sp. PI. 675 ; Masters, I.e. i. 374 ; 

 King, I.e. 87. 



A slender pubescent shrubby plant about 2 ft. tall with tough 

 bark. Leaves membranous ovate to lanceolate or oblong acute, 

 serrate or lobed, base rounded, truncate or sub-hastate, 5-nerved, 

 1-5 to 2-5 in. long, -5 to i in. wide ; petioles -4 to i in. long. Flowers 

 •2 in. across, in dense terminal heads with many viUous bracts 

 intermixed. Sepals lanceolate acuminate. Petals obovate, pink 

 with a yellow base. Stamens opposite the petals, connate below 

 in a tube. Ovary villous; styles glabrous. Capsule globose, 

 brown, pubescent, longer than the calyx. Hab. Common in waste 

 ground all over the peninsula. Distrib. Tropics generally. Native 

 name : Lumah Ketam. 



