44 IV. MEN1SPEKMACE.E (olivp:r). [TUiacora. 



curved ; embno nearly the length of the seed, with fleshy appressed coty- 

 ledons in a ruminate albumen. — Leaves more or less ovate. Inflorescence in 

 paniculate racemes. 



The original and only species of the genus besides the following is a widely-ditfused In- 

 dian plant. 



1. T. ? funifera, Oliv. Leafy extremities glabrous. Leaves ovate- 

 oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, coriaceous, 3-nerved, 3-4 

 in. long, 1^-2 in. broad. Petiole |-1 in. Inflorescence from nodes on 

 the old wood. Male flowers in fasciculate, pubescent racemes about 2 in. 

 long. Pedicels bearing 3-9 sessile flowers, 1-1 ^ ^i^^^s long. Bracts lan- 

 ceolate, much shorter than the pedicels. Three inner sepals valvate, obovate- 

 elliptical. Petals half as long as the inner sepals, ovate-cordate, unguiculate, 

 with thickened margins. Male fl. : Stamens 6, free nearly from the base (or 

 connate below, Dr. Kirk)\ anthers small, ovoid, adnate, 2-celled, the cells 

 divergent below and dehiscing longitudinally. Female flowers not seen ; ac- 

 cording to Dr. Kirk with about 12 carpels upon a central gynophore. 



South Central. Victoria Falls, Br. Kirk ! 



Mozamb. Distr. Zambesia, ])rs. Kirk and Meller ! 



I believe this plant to be the same as indicated by Mr. Miers (Ann. Nat. Hist. Ser. 3. xiv. 

 364) as a species of Ili/pserpa {H.funifera), but as Dr. Kirk describes the carpels as about 

 12 in number, it appears more nearly allied to TUiacora, as suggested by Dr. Kirk. Dr. 

 Meller describes this plant as reaching a height of 30 or 40 ft., and "everywhere thickly 

 loaded with flowers." 



5. COCCULUS, DC; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 36. 



Sepals 6, in two series, 3 inner larger. Petals 6, shorter than the inner 

 sepals, entire or bidentate, concave or with involute margins embracing tiie 

 stamens. Male fl. : Stamens 6, free, with 4-lobed anthers. Female fl. : Sta- 

 minodia 6 or 0. (Jarpels 3, with erect or recurved undivided styles. Drupes 

 rotundate or obovate, compressed, with the scar of the style near tiie b^sc. 

 Putamen tuberculate or transversely rugose. Seed horseshoe-shaped, curved 

 around opposite intruded processes of the putamen ; embryo with linear, ap- 

 pressed cotyledons in a small quantity of fleshy albumen. — Climbers or 

 rarely nearly erect. Leaves various in form but not peltate and rarely cordate. 

 Flowers fascicled or solitary, cymose or paniculate, axillary. 



The two tropical African species have a wide distribution in the hotter parts of Asia, where 

 a few other species of the genus are also indigenous. Two species are American. 



Rarauli glabrous or nearly so. Leaves usually with a cuneate base, gla- 

 brous or puberulous at first. Apex of the petals undivided . . . . 1. 6'. Leceba. 



Ramuli pilose or hoary-tomentose. Leaves usually truncate, broadly 



rounded or even cordate at the base, pilose or pubescent. Petals bidentate "2. C. villosvs. 



1. C. Leaeba, DC. Syst. Veg. i. 529. A much-branched climber with 

 slender glabrous or glabrate, striate, pale or ashen, leafy ramuli. Leaves 

 small, rather coriaceous, lanceolate-oblong or -ovate or obtusely trapezoidal, 

 entire or sometimes obscurely lobed, usually obtuse, rarely retuse, mucronate, 

 cuneate or rather rounded at the base, glabrous or puberulous at first, more 

 or less glaucous, \-\^ in. long, ^-f in. broad. Petiole 1-3 lines. Flowers 



