92 TX. CAPPARiDACE-a: (olivee). [Bosciu. 



duous. Petals 0. Disk forming an entire or fimbriate ring at tlie base of 

 the calyx. Stamens 6-20, free, inserted upon the torus or at the base of 

 the short gynophore (in the tropical African species). Ovary ovoid or obpy- 

 riform, narrowed into a vei-y short thick style, 1-celled with 2 (or I) pla- 

 centas and few ovules. Fruit crustaceous, globose, shortly stipitate or sub- 

 sessile, 1- or few-seeded. Embryo more or less convolute, the cotyledons 

 contortuplicate in the few specimens examined. — Shrubs or small trees, gla- 

 brous or minutely pubescent or scabrid. Leaves simple, entire, coriaceous. 

 Flowers small racemose or fascicled, sometimes collected in terminal pa- 

 nicles. 



A small Africaji genus closely allied to Mcerua, from which it may generally be distin- 

 guished by the free or nearly free sepals and the ovary narrowed above into a very short 

 style. Boscia Caffra, Sond., of the Cape is a Marua {Niebuhria). 



Leaves oblong-elliptical obtuse or rather acute, 2-5 in. Flowers ra- 

 cemose or subumbellate, in terminal panicles. Stamens 8-20 . . \. B. senegalensis. 



Leaves oblong or oval, acute or obtuse, 1-2 in. Flowers racemose or 



corymbose, axillary or terminal. Stamens 6-9 2. B. angustifolia. 



Leaves elongate-linear or -lanceolate, usually acute, 2-5 in. Flowers 



in axillary racemes. Stamens 9-14 %. B. salicifolia. 



Leaves oblong-elliptical, scabrous, 2-5 in. Flowers in erect terminal 



racemes. Stamens 14-20 5. ^. urens. 



Leaves small, fascicled, obovate-oblong, 8-6 lines. Flowers fasciculate. 



Stamens 6 4. 5. microphylla. 



1. B. senegalensis. Lam. ; DC. Prod. i. 244. A shmb or small tree. 

 Branches gliibrous or minutely pubescent at first. Leaves coriaceous, oblong- 

 elliptical or broadly oval, obtuse or rather acute, reticulate, glabrous or very 

 shortly pubescent and soft to the touch beneath, the principal lateral veins 

 more or less distinctly looped; 2-5 in. long, 1-ly in. broad. Petiole about 

 3 lines. Flowers racemose or subumbellate, collected into small terminal 

 panicles. Stamens 8-20, inserted within the thickened disk at the base of 

 the gynophore which is about 1-^ lines in length. Fruit globose, 4-6 lines 

 diam., 1-3-seeded, glabrous or pubescent-tomentose. — B. octandra, Hochst. 

 in Kotschy, PI. Nub. 



Upper Guinea. Senegambia, Perrotiet ! 



North Central. Kouka, E. Vogell 



Nile Land. Nubia, Kotschy ! Kordofan, Sennar, Cienkowski. 



2. B. angustifolia, Rich, in Fl. Seneg. 26. t. vi. {non Harvey). A 

 tree or shrub with glabrous branches. Leaves coriaceous, oblong oval linear- 

 oval or varying from obovate to lanceolate, obtuse retuse or acute, usually 

 mucronate, more or less narrowed to the base, minutely or obsoletely reticu- 

 late and glabrous or very minutely pubescent beneath, often in fascicles of 

 2-4, from nodes on the branches of a previous year, 1-2^ in. long or more. 

 Petioles 1|— 3 lines. Flowers greenish, fragrant, corymbose or racemose, 

 axillary and lateral or collected in short terminal panicles ; bracts subulate 

 or filiform. Stamens 6-20 or more, inserted within the fimbriate or thickened 

 cushion-like disk at the base of the short gynophore. Ovary ovoid, 1-celled, 

 with 2 placentas; ovules few. Fruit globose, 3-6 lines diam., glabrous or 

 minutely pubescent, pitted or rugulose, 1-few-seeded, sometimes nearly ses- 

 sile. Embryo convolute with contortuplicate cotyledons. — B. senegalensis ? 



