226 XXXA'III. OLACACE.«. 



cup-shaped, unequally 4-5-tootbed. Petals 4-5, united into a short 

 tube which is adnata to a stipitifonn torus, free above, valvate, slender, 

 flat. Male flowees: Stamens hypogynous, alternate with the petals 

 and scarcely cohering with them at the base ; filaments filiform : anthers 

 versatile. Female elowers : Ovary sessile, 1-ceIled, superior; ovules 2, 

 pendulous from the apex of the cell, f nnicle thick ; stigma subsessile. 

 Drupe oblong; epicarp coriaceous; putamen woody. Seeds pendulous; 

 albumen 0; cotyledons fleshy, cordate at the base, wrapping round the 

 short superior radicle. — Distrib. Tropical Asia ; species 3 or 4. 



1. Sarcostigma Kleinii, Wight 4' ^m. in Edhi. New Phil. Jormi. 

 (1832-33) p. 299. A large climbing shrub; young branches terete, 

 glabrous. Leaves coriaceous, 4-12 by 2-4 in., oblong, oblong-lanceolate 

 or ovate, acuminate or acute, glabrous, shining, closely reticulately 

 veined (the reticulations prominent on both surfaces), base acute, rarely 

 rounded ; petioles ^-^ in. long. Inflorescence axillary or extra-axillai'y, 

 in spicate racemes which are solitary or fascicled and longer than the 

 leaves : flowers minute, in fascicles of 1-4, subsessile along a woody 

 rhachis. Male flowers : Calyx small, cup-shaped, pubescent outside, 

 5-toothed ; teeth short, triangular. Petals ^^ in. long, oblong, acute, 

 reflexed. Stamens a little shorter than the petals. Ovary rudimentary, 

 small, conical. Pemale flowers slightly larger than the male. Calyx 

 and petals as in the male. Stamens small, about half as long as the 

 ovary, hypogynous. Ovary large, oblong or somewhat obovoid, pubes- 

 cent ; stigma large, subsessile, conical. Fruit 1-1 -i- in. long, the shape 

 of an olive, bright orange-red, externally rugose. Fl. B. I. v. 1, p. 594; 

 Dalz. & Gibs. p. 221 ; Miers, Contrib. v. 1, p. 103, t. 18 (female flowers 

 only) : Talb. Trees, Bomb. p. 46; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 2, 

 p. 478. — Flowers : Nov. 



Kanaka : in evergreen forests along the N. Kanara Gh;its ; common near tlie Falls 

 of Gairsoppa, Talbot. S. M. Covntrv : Chorla Gbat (Eelgaura districts), Dahell 4' 

 Gibson.— DisTRiB. India (E. & W. Peninsulas). 



Oiii.ER XXXIX. ILICACE.S1. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves usually coriaceous and eA'ergreen, alternate, 

 simple, exstipulate or with 2 minute stii)nles. Flowers small, usually 

 diojcious, in axillary cymes, fascicles or umbels, the male flowers with 

 an imperfect ovary, the female with imperfect stau'ens. Calyx per- 

 sistent, 3-6-partite or -lobed ; segments or lobes imbricate. Petals 4-5, 

 rarely 6-8, connate at the base (or connate in the male and free in the 

 female), deciduous, imbricate. Stamens isomerous wi h the petals, 

 inserted on the base of the corolla; filaments subulate; anthers shortly 

 oblong, dorsifixed. Disk 0. Ovary free, 3-6- (rarely many-) celled ; 

 ovules 1 or 2, collateral, pendulous ; style very short or ; stigma 

 capitate or discoid. Drupe with 2 or more 1-seeded free (rarely con- 

 nate) 8tonf>s. Seed pendulous ; testa membranous ; albumen copious, 

 fleshy; embryo minute. — Distrlb. Chiefly tropical; genera 3 ; species 

 about 220. 



