885 



large black ant, Abrus precatoriiis, Cassia pumila, Glossogyne piiina- 

 tifida, Pandanus foetidus (much used as a hedge by the natives, who 

 also eat the tender shoots, by which means, and by constant clipping, 

 it remains stemless, though, when left to itself, it assumes an arbores- 

 cent form), the lovely and fragrant Crinum asiaticura, Tetranlhera 

 Roxburghii, a fine, tall tree, Spinifex squarrosus, a Rottbcellia, and 

 Heteropogon contortus. 



Amongst those plants which occupy a subordinate position in the 

 Flora, but are still more or less common or characteristic, must be 

 enumerated a pretty little Curculigo, with leaves like a Luzula, which 

 expands its star-like, golden-coloured blossoms close to the earth on 

 the advent of spring, Rourea microphylla, Terustromia japonica, 

 Ficus pyriformis, F. stipulata, and F. hirta, Crotalaria elliptica, with 

 its hispid, orbicular legumes, the fine crimson-flowered Ixora blanda, 

 an undescribed Begonia, Raphiolepis rubra, which replaces our haw- 

 thorn, ^ginetia indica, Barabusae, the elegant Blackwellia Loureirii, 

 Masssenda pubescens, conspicuous for its large, irregular, snow-white 

 calyx-segment, Paliurus Aubletii, Berchemia lineata, Strychnos colu- 

 brina, the seeds of which are employed by the Chinese, under the 

 name of Md tdu, or horse-beans, for the destruction of rats, &c., 

 Choripetalum obovatum, Striga hirsuta, the tallow-tree {Stillingia 

 sehifera), Jasmiuum paniculatum, fragrant and free-flowering, the 

 purple-bloomed Pterostigma grandiflorum, Pothos scandens, Paratro- 

 pia cantoniensis, a handsome, shady tree, Syllisium buxifoliura, a very 

 neat shrub', Embelia ribes, Osbeckia chinensis, Ardisia priraulifolia, 

 adorned with glossy, crimson, holly-like berries, Rostellularia procum- 

 bens, &c, Cardiospermura lialicacabum, with its bladdery fruit, 

 scrambles amongst the herbage, amidst which rise the pretty lilac 

 spikes of Ophiopogon spicatus. Several Gardenias, Ilices, Pittospo- 

 rum glabratum, and Eyrea vernalis please the eye by the neatness of 

 their foliage, round which Cuscuta monogyna, Toxocarpus Wightia- 

 nus, and several Bauhinias twine their slender stems. To these must 

 be added a velvet-leaved, arborescent Sponia, the delicate Saloraonia 

 cantoniensis, Oxalis corniculata, Rubus parvifolius, R. leucanthus, 

 nob., and R. reflexus, the latter remarkable for the extreme beauty of 

 its foliage, two handsome Caesalpiniae, Zornia diphylla, which enamels 

 the turf with its minute yellow blooms, resembling those of our Lathy- 

 rus pratensis, Asparagus falcatus (to which must be referred, as a 

 synonyme, the Melanthiura cochinchinense of Loureiro, placed by 

 Kunth among altogether doubtful plants), several species of Hedera 



