606 LXX. RUBIACE.IE. 



in each cell, pendulous ; style stout ; stigma large. Di'upe didymous 

 or subglobose, or Mdth one carpel suppressed, then reniPorm or oblong, 

 \nth 1-2 pyrenes or a 2-celled putamen. Seeds obloug, pendulous ; 

 testa membranous ; albumen fleshy ; embryo elongate ; cotyledons short ; 

 radicle superior. — Distrib. Tropical Asia, Afx'ica and Australia, South 

 Africa and Pacific Islands ; species about 70. 



Branches without spines. 



Flowers .'i-merons 1. P. Wlghtii, 



Branches witli spines. 



Flowers 5-nierous 2. P. Bheedei. 



Flowers 4-nierous 3. P. parviflora. 



1. Plectronia Wightii, T. Cool-e. An unarmed handsome large 

 erect shrub or small tree ; young shoots 4-angled. Leaves 3k— ik by 

 ]|-2 in., elliptic-lauceohate, obtuse or shortly acuminate, coriaceous, 

 entire, bright-green, polished and shining above, paler beneath, quite 

 glabrous on both sides, base narrowed into a very short petiole ; main 

 nerves 4-6 pairs, oblique, often with hollow galls (the work of insects) 

 in their axils ; stipules rounded-ovate at base, with a long subulate 

 acumination. Flowers 5-merous, in peduncled umbels in the opposite 

 axils ; peduncles stout, ^ in. long, glabrous ; pedicels very numerous, 

 |-^ in. long, slender, glabrous. Calyx g in. long, glabrous ; teeth tri- 

 angular, gV in. long, slightly ciliolate. Corolla thick and subfleshy, ^ in. 

 long, densely bearded with white hairs in the throat; lobes 5, oblong, 

 acute, ^ by y\r in. Fruit obovoid, didymous, |-| in. long, warted, black 

 when ripe, polished. The wood is very hard ; even the young branches 

 test the penknife. Canthmm umbellatum, Wight, Icon. t. 1034 (not of 

 Korth.); Hook. f. Fl. B. I. v. 3, p. 132; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 113; Talb. 

 Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 192 ; Woodr. in Jouru. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1898) 

 p. 645 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 2, p. 129. Canthmm dvhjmum^ 

 Grab. Cat. p. 91 {not of Gsertn.) ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 2, p. 343.— 

 Flowers: Nov. -Jan. Vern. Tupd) Arsul. 



Konkan: evergreen forests, Talhot; hills in the Kontan, Xaw ! Deccan: Maha- 

 bleshwar, common, C'oo/ic! ; Khandala, Coo,?'e !, JFoot^rott; ! S. M. Country : Eamghat, 

 JiUchie, 1787! Kanaka: evergreen forests of N. Kanara, Talbot. — Distrib. India 

 (W. Peninsula, Ava). 



Trimen {I. c.) makes this synonymous with Canthium didymum, Gasrtn., but the 

 inflorescence is sufliciently distinctive to warrant its retention as a separate species. 

 As the name Plectronia umhrllafa has been already adopted for a Madagascar plant 

 with 4-merous flowers by Mr. Baker (Journ. Linn. Soc. v. 20 [1884] p. 168), Wight's 

 specific name cannot be used for this plant. I have therefore named the plant 

 P. Wightii after Dr. Wight, who first discovered, described, and figured it. 



2. Plectronia Rheedei, Bedd. For. Man. in Flor. Sylvat. p. cxxxiv-5 

 (1874). A scandent armed shrub : stem slender, 1 in. in diam., spinous 

 to near the base ; bark smooth, shining ; branches divaricate, slender, 

 terete, more or less clothed with appressed pubescence, usually armed 

 with straight or slightly curved sharp supra-axillary spines i-| in. long. 

 Leaves thin, 1-4 by ^-2 in., ovate, acute or acuminate, glabrous on both 

 sides or with a few scattered hairs on the nerves beneath, rounded or 

 cordate at the base; main nerves 4-6 pairs, often with galls in their 

 axils; petioles g-|in. long; stipules ovate, cuspidate, hairy. Flowers 

 greenish, axillary, solitary or in fascicles of 2-4 (rarely in very shortly 

 peduncled cymes) ; pedicels very short ; buds \ery acute. Calyx J^- 

 '■■^-2 in. long, turbinate ; limb truncate or with 6 very tuiuuto distant 



