lA'iv. DAI is;(ACi;i;. n,')! 



OuDEiiLXLV. DATISCACEiE. 



Trees or herbs. Leaves alternate, simple or piiiiiato ; stipules 0. 

 Plowers small, rej^ular, dioecious (in the Indian species), fascicled, 

 racemose or panicled. Male flowers: Calyx-tube very short or 

 hemispheric; lobes li-O. Petals in the Indian species. Stamens 4- 

 25. lludimentary ovary or small. Female flowehs : Calyx-tube 

 adnate to the ovary; lobes 3-8, short. Petals 0. Ovary 1-eelIed, o'pen 

 or closed ; placentas parietal, alternating with the calyx-lobes ; ovules 

 numerous, ast-euding or horizontal ; styles as many as the placentas and 

 alternate witb them, simple or 2-partite. Capsule membranous or 

 coriaceous, dehiscing within the styles. Seeds very many, minute, 

 albuminous; embryo cylindric ; radicle elongate, next the hilum. — 

 DiSTUiB. South-eastern Europe, Western and Central Asia, East Indies, 

 Java, jN'orth-west America; genera 3; species 4. 



1. TETRAMELES, E. Br. 



A tall tree. Leaves deciduous, ovate, acuminate, pubescent or 

 tomentose beneath. Flowers dioecious, appearing before the leaves, in 

 elongate slender many-tlowered racemes or panicles. Male flowers : 

 Calyx-tube very short; lobes 4, e(|ual or unequal, ovate or oblong, with 

 sometimes an interposed small tooth. Petals 0. Stamens 4, opposite 

 the calyx-lobes, inserted round a flat centml disk. Ovary rudimentary 

 or 4-gonous. Female flowers : Calyx-tube connate with the ovary, 

 sub-4-gonous; teeth 4, short. Ovary inferior, 1-celled ; ovules numei'ous, 

 on 4 parietal placentas ; styles 4, subulate, distinct, persistent ; stigmas 

 club-shaped. Capsule membranous, subglobose or urceolate, 4- or 8- 

 ribbed, dehiscing at the apex between the styles. Seeds very manv, 

 minute, flattened, ellipsoid ; testa very lax and extending much be3'oncl 

 the nucleus as a loose ragged reticulated membrane. — Distrib. India, 

 Ceylon, Java; species 1. 



1. Tetrameles nudiflora, 7?, Br. in Bmn.Pl. Java Far. (1838) 

 p. 79. A very large deciduous tree reaching 100-1-50 ft. ; trunk straight, 

 not branched below, buttressed at the base ; bark smooth, grey, lenti- 

 Cf^llate. Leaves appearing alter the flowers, 4|-6 by 4-5| in., broadly 

 ovate, acuminate, irregularly serrate or dentate, bright-green and (when 

 mature) glabrous above, paler and w ith softly hairy reticulate venation 

 beneath, base cordate ; petioles 4-6 in. long, terete, softly pubescent. 

 Flowers numerous, small, yellow. Male floavers subsessile, in 

 pubescent panicles 6-10 in long. Calyx-lobes linear-oblong, subacute, 

 glabrous, exceeding the tube. Stamens much exserted : fllaments A'ery 

 long ; anthers small, subglobose. Female flowers sessile or nearly so, 

 in pendulous spicate pubescent racemes. Calyx urceolate, pubescent 

 outside ; teeth 4, short, triangular, acute. Ovary faintly 8-ribbed, 

 slightly pubescent ; styles much exserted ; stigmas club-shaped. Fruit 

 i-^ in. long, urceolate, truncate, 8-ribbed, glandular. Seeds minute, 

 ellipsoid. Fl. B. I. v. 2, p. 657 ; Bedd. Flor. Svlvat. t. 212 ; Trim. FI. 

 Cnyl. V. 2, p. 265; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 179 ; AA'oodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1898) p. 641 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 4, 

 p. 41. Tetramehs (without specific name), Dalz. & Gibs. p. 311. 



