10 SAFOTACEM. [Ardislu 



"broadly acuminate or subobtuseatthe apex, cuneate at the base, entire^ 

 subcoriaceous, fleshy, glabrous, minutely punctate ; lateral nerves many, 

 slender, reticulate between them ; petioles about \ in. long, winged. 

 Corymbs axillary, often from the axils of fallen or reduced leaves, 

 few-flowered, shorter than the leaves, glabrous ; pedicels £-1 in. or 

 more in length, stout and thickening upwards ; bracts narrowly oblong,, 

 acute, about ,\j in. long, deciduous. Flowers in axillary corymbose 

 racemes, rose-coloured, cr pinkish, about £ in. across. Calyx-lobes 5, 

 free, £ in. loEg, ovate-orbicular, gland-dotted. Petals slightly connate 

 at the base, broadly elliptic, acute, marked with dark lines, punctate, 

 fitawens 5, shorter than the petal?, filaments very short ; anthers large, 

 lanceolate, acute. Ovary free, ovoid, glabrous. Fruit £ in. in diam., 

 subglobose, with a depressed apex, purplieh-black when ripe and filled 

 with a pinkish-coloured pulp. 



Dehra Dun, Siwalik range, sub-Himalayan tracts of Eohilkhand, N. Oudh 

 and Gorakhpur, usually in damp shady spots. Flowers in March and 

 April, the fruit ripening during the cold season. Distrib. : Himalaya 

 up to 5.000 ft. and throughout India (except in the drier western por- 

 tion), extending to Malaya ard China. The juice of the berries is said 

 to yield a gooa yellow dye. A. hum His cf Vahl is a small sea-coast shrub 

 found in S. India and Ceylon and on the shores of Malacca and Siam. 

 It differs by having the flowers in terminal compound racemes, and in 

 its corolla-tube which is much longer than that of A. solanacea. 



LXVI.— SAPOTACEJE. 



Trees or shrubs; young parts often rnsty-torrentose. Leaves 

 alternate, rarely sub-opposite, coriaceous, entire, petioled ; stipules 

 or very caducous. Flowers 2-sexual, small or medium-sized, axillary ;. 

 pedicels clustered, rarely solitary or panicled ; bracts and bracteoles 

 or minute. Calyx-lobes 4-8, much imbricated, or 2-seriate with the 

 outer series valvate, persistent. Corolla-tube shorter than the calyx, 

 lobes as many or 2-4 times as many as those of the calyx. Stamens 

 on the corolla-tube, as many as the corolla-lobes and opposite to 

 them, or 2-3 times as many, 1-3-seriate ; filaments usually short ;. 

 anthers oblong-lanceolate, connective often produced; staminodes- 

 (when present) alternate to stamens. Ovary superior, sessile, 2-8- 

 celled, style linear ; ovules solitary in each cell, usually attached to 

 the inner angle. Berry indehiscent, 1-8-seeded. Seeds ellipsoid or 

 compressed, exalbuminous, with large fleshy cotyledons, or albuminous 

 with flat cotyledons, testa usually crustacecus. — Species about 320,. 

 in the tropics of both hemispheres. 



Calyx-segments 4-5, staminodes none . . 1. Bassia. 

 Calyx-segments and stamhudes 6-8 . . 2. Mtmtjsops. 



