Spondias."] XLV. anacardia.ceje (oliver). 449 



leaf which may or may not belong to the same species as a plant in the Kew herbtrium 

 marked "Spondias Zanzee, G. Don!" by M. Planchon, which I Uke to be S. mxnocarJ 

 Rich. Don, however, states that his S. Zanzee has a small black fruit. 



9. SCLEROCABYA, Hochst. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 427. 



Flowers dicEcious or polygamous. Sepals 4 (rarely 5), roundisli. iml)ri- 

 cating, coloured. Petals as many, rotundate or obovate, spreading or re- 

 flexed, imbricate in aestivation. Male fl. : Stamens 12-24, inserted round n 

 small fleshy disk. Female fl. : (I have not examined). Ovary subf^lol)ose, 

 2-3-celled. Styles short, thick, distinct, with peltate stigmas ; (ovuK-s, ac- 

 cording to Dr. Kirk, 2 in each cell, pendulous). Drupe with a 2-3-celled 

 putamen, 1 seed in each cell. Seeds exaibuminous. Cotyledons fleshy, 

 oily, radicle superior. — Trees. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate, clustered 

 at the ends of the branches, glabrous ; leaflets opposite or subopposile. 

 Male flowers in spicate racemes. 



A small genus confined to Africa and the Mascarene Islands. 



Leaves 7-11 -foliolate ; petiolules usually i-1 in \. S. Caffra. 



Leaves 9-23-foliolate ; petiolules 0-2 lines 2. 5. Birrea. 



1. S. Caflfra^ Sond. i?i Linnaa, xxiii. 26. A glabrous tree. Leaves 

 rather coriaceous, clustered toward the ends of the branches, 7-11-foliolate, 

 6-15 in. long; leaflets usually on long petiolules, oblong- or ovate-elliptical, 

 acuminate or apiculate, base oblique, the upper margin at least rounded, 

 entire or obscurely crenulate, 1^-4 in. long, f-1^ in. broad; petiolules ^1 

 in., rarely shorter. Flowers in spicate racemes, about ^ in. in diam. ; male 

 racemes 2^-5 in. long; pedicels \-\\ lines. Petals recurved. Ovules 2 in 

 each cell according to Dr. Kirk, suspended by a thick, fleshy, 'jointed ' funicle. 

 Drupe l-5~2 in. diam., roundish, the pulp acid and resinous, putamen thick 

 and bony, 2-celled, with a single seed in each cell ; the radicle of the ger- 

 minating embryo finding exit by a hole at the apex of the cell, from which 

 an operculum or plug falls out. The thick oily cotyledons are edible. 



Mosamb. Distr. Lake Nyassa and other localities in Zambesi-land, Dr. Kirk ! 



Native name * Morula,' according to Dr. Kirk, whose detailed drawings of the ovule and 

 curious fruit are in the Kew herbarium. Our specimens of the true .S'. Caffra, from Nntal 

 and Macalisberg mountains, are not very good, and the Zambesi plant may prove distinct. 

 The Macalisberg plant, indeed, may be different from the Natal one ; the leaves in the for- 

 mer being nearly white beneath, while iu the Natal and Zambesi Sclerocarya tlicy are but 

 slightly paler. 



2. S. Birrea, Hochd.; Walp. Rep. v. 418. Leaves tufted at the 

 ends of the branches, 9-23-foliolate, narrow, ^-1 ft. long, wholly glabrous 

 or subglaucous ; leaflets opposite or subopposite, oblong- ovate- or obovate- 

 elliptical, obtuse or acute, usually mucronate, base more or less rounded, 

 entire, or of barren branches occasionally toothed, subcoriaceous, slightly 

 paler beneath, |-2 in. long, \-\ in. broad ; petiolules not exceeding 2 lines 

 in our specimens, or leaflets subsessile. Male flowers in short spikes or 

 spicate racemes with very short pedicels. Drupes borne singly on »tout 

 peduncles under 1 in. in length, globose, glabrous, "the size of a walnut.* 



VOL. I. ^ 



