55 



1. B. Griffithu, Masters in Hook. til. Fl. Br. Ind. i. 352. A tree 

 40 to 60 feet high ; young branches ratlier slender, pale, minutely 

 furfuraceous. Leaves oblong, or elliptic-oblong, or obovate-oblong, 

 shortly and abruptly acuminate, slightly narrowed towards the rounded 

 base ; upper surface quite glabrous ; the lower pale, very minutely pu- 

 bescent, the midrib and nerves slightly scaly; main nerves 8 to 11 pairs, 

 spreading, prominent beneath and dark coloured; length 5 to 65 in., 

 breadth 1'5 to 2"25. in., petiole '4 to '6 in. : stipules linear, deciduous. 

 Flo'wers '75 in. in diam., solitary, or in 2 to 3-flowered cymes from the 

 axils of leaves or of fallen leaves ; pedicels shorter than the petioles, 

 bracteolate. Involucral bracts 2, broadly-ovate, blunt, connate at the 

 base, closely enveloping the buds ; scaly externally, glabrous within. 

 Sepals 4, ovate, spreading, pubescent on both surfaces, scaly also on the 

 outer. Petals 4i to 8, nearly twice as long as sepals, linear or linear- 

 spathulate, '1 in. broad. Stamens very numerous, unequal, slightly 

 united by the bases of the filaments ; the outer without anthers, some 

 flat resembling the petals, a few of the inner longer and bearing at 

 their apices 1 to 4 oblong obovoid anthers which dehisce by an apical 

 pore. Ovary ovoid, 3-celled, densely covered with peltate, fimbriate, 

 long-stalked scales. Style as long as the longest stamens. Stigma sub- 

 capitate. Fruit oblong, pointed at each end, TS to *2 in. long, densely 

 covered with sharp stout conical spines, 3-celled, dehiscent. Seeds 3 to 

 6, or fewer. Mast, in Journ. Linn. Soc. xiv. t. xv, fig. 29 to 39, t. xvi., 

 fig. 40 to 42. Beccari Malesia 111, p. 256. Heteropyxis, Griff. Not. iv. 

 524 ; Ic. PI. As. t. 594. 



Malacca ; Griffith, Maingay. Perak, very common. Distrib. 

 Sumatra, Forbes, No. 3068. 



10. Neesia, Blume. 



Trees. Branches marked with large Idaf-scars. Leaves entire, 

 pinnate-veined. Stipules leafy. Cymes from the stem in the axils of 

 the fallen leaves. Bracteoles 3, connate into a cup, deciduous, covered, 

 like the sepals, with peltate scales. Calyx ventricose, conical above, 

 opening by a circular irregularly crenulate orifice at the top, ultimately 

 dilated and cushion-shaped at the base. Petals 5, free, imbricate. 

 Stamens numerous, the filaments more or less united ; anthers 2-celled, 

 opening lengthwise, connective thick ; staminodes 0. Ovary oblong, 

 5-celled ; style short; stigma capitate; ovules numerous, 2-seriate, 

 horizontal, anatropous. Fruit ovoid, woody, muricate, loculicidally 5- 

 valved. Seeds albuminous ; aril ; cotyledons flat, leafy. DisUib. 

 Seven species, all Malayan. 



164 



