34^ XXXIX. OLACINE.E (olIVEk). [Ptychopetalum . 



jDedicels shorter than the flowers, subtended by a lanceolate cyuibiform cadu- 

 cous bract. Calyx obsolete. Petals 5, very narrow-linear, more or less 

 barbate wqthin. Stamens 8 (or thereabout), opposite and adiiate to tlie 

 })etals, 6 in pairs, 1 of each pair being longer and free above. Ovary oval- 

 oblong, slightly sulcate, gradually narrowed into the style. Fruit ellipsoidal 

 or globose-obovoid, \-\ in. long ; pericarp coriaceous. — AUieslandi'a anceps, 

 Miers, mss. and Anisandra uigrescens, Planch, mss. in Herb. Kew. 



Upper Guinea. Var. o. Leave? sessile, slightly cordate at the base. Grand Bassa, T. 

 Vogel ! Var. ^8. Leaves sessile or subsessiie, more or less rounded or subcuneate at base. 

 Bagroo river, Mann ! 



It is quite probable the two forms distinguished above as varieties may be specifically dis- 

 tinct, but our material is too slight to settle the question. TTnfortunately there is but :i 

 single attached fruit and one already opened (belonging to var. jS, the flowers of which 

 alone I have dissected), that I cannot satisfy myself as to the position of the embryo. 



4. OLAX, Linn.; Benth. ei Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 347. 



Calyx cupuliform, entire or nearly so, accrescent and enclosing the U-Qe 

 fruit or unchanged. Petals 5 or 6, valvate in aestivation, free or slightly co- 

 herent or connected by alternating filaments. Stamens usually 8 (or 9), 

 (in tropical African species) of which either 5 are anantherous and opposite 

 to the petals, and 3 antheriferous alternate with them, or 5 antheriferous oj)- 

 posite to the petals, and 3 anantherous and alternate. Pilanients more or 

 less adnate to the petals. Ovary free, more or less distinctly 3-celled at the 

 base, sometimes distinctly 1-celled above, narrowed into the style ; stigma 

 obtuse or capitate, sometimes 3-lobed ; ovules 1 in each division of the 

 ovary. Fruit drupaceous, 1-seeded, or pericarp coriaceous, naked or enclosed 

 within the accrescent calyculus. Seed albuminous with a minute, apical, 

 oblong embryo (in the only tropical African species examined with ripe fruit). 

 —^Glabrous shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate, entire or nearly so, 

 often with decurrent lines from the petiole. Flowers small, in short racemes, 

 or the com.mon peduncle nearly obsolete, rarely solitary. 



A considerable genus of the tropics of the Old World with a few Australian outliers. 

 'J'he African species appear to be endemic, unless one prove identical with a Madagascar 

 species. 



Antheriferous stamens 3, alternate with the petals; staminodia 5, 

 opposite. 



Leaves 3-6 in., oblor.g-elliptical acute or acuminate. Flowers in 

 very short racemes (common peduncle -x~(i~\ in) ; pedicels 

 i-1 line, much exceeding the bracts \. 0. Maruiii. 



Leaves 3-4 in., elliptical, rather obtuse. Flowers in distichous 



racemes of k in. ; bracts equalling very short j)edicels . . . 2.0. viriJis. 



Leaves sessile, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate . 2>. 0. (jainbecola. 



Leaves 6-7 in., oblong-elliptical, prominently. 3-nerved to beyond 



the middle. Racemes short 4. 0. trip/inervia. 



Antheriferous stamens 5-6, opposite to the petals , staminodia 3, 

 alternate. 



Leaves ovaloblong, acute, 2^-3 a in. Flowers in 1 -sided or dis- 

 tichous racemes of \-\ in. Pedicels 1 line or less .... 5. 0. snbscorpioidea. 



Leaves lanceolate, 1-H in. Flowers solitary, axillary (or in short 



racemes). Pedicels \ m 6. 0. dissitijlora. 



