Sicyos.] lxiv. cucurbitace-e: (hooker). 569 



lobes broad, acute or acuminate, irregularly toothed, the middle one 

 often longest, hairy on both surfaces. Male fl. : Peduncle 2-8 in. long. 

 Flowers green, minute, £ in. diameter, densely racemose at the top of 

 the .peduncle. Anthers sessile forming a capitulum on the columnar 

 connate filaments ; cells contorted. Fruits crowded in a shortly pe- 

 duncled capitulum, ovate, compressed, J in. long, densely hispid with 

 barbed setae. — Seringe in DC. Prod. iii. 309 ; A. Rich. Fl. Abyss. 

 i. 296 ? S. Schiinperi, Naud. in Schweinfurth & Ascherson's Appendix 

 to Beitr. Fl. iEthiop. 268. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schiniper! 



Lower Guinea. Thickets in Huilla, Dr. Welwitsch I 



Also a native of N. and S. America and the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. 



Order LXV. BEGONIACE^J. (By Dr. Hooker.) 



Flowers monoecious, unsymmetrical. Male : Perianth-segments 2 

 or more, petaloid ; • 2 outer opposite, valvate, inner imbricate or 0. 

 Stamens indefinite, inserted on a small receptacle ; anthers adnate to 

 the filaments, free or connate ; cells dehiscing laterally. Rudimentary 

 ovary 0. Female fl. : Perianth-segments 2, opposite or more variously 

 arranged. Staminodes 0. Ovary inferior,, 2-4- rarely 1-celled, 3-4- 

 angled or winged ; styles 2-5, free or connate, stigmas capitate, linear 

 or 2-fid, arms papillose all over or in a long spiral line ; ovules exces- 

 sively numerous, on axile projecting simple or lobed placentas. Fruit 

 a loculicidal rarely septicidal capsule, rarely a fleshy berry, 2-3- rarely 

 4- or more-celled. Seeds very numerous, minute, testa reticulate, 

 albumen thin or ; embryo ovoid or subcylindric ; cotyledons very 

 short. — Herbs or undershrubs, sometimes stemless, usually succulent. 

 Leaves alternate, sometimes distichous, unequal-sided. Stipules free, 

 deciduous. Cymes axillary, uni- or bi-sexual ; bracts and bracteoles 

 usually opposite, caducous. Flowers often handsome, rosy or white, 

 rarely yellow or red. 



A very large Tropical especially American Order, or rather genus, for the Order con- 

 tains besides Begonia, but one anomalous member, the Sandwich Island Hillebrandia, 

 which has 5 equal calyx-lobes, as many minute petals, and a capsule dehiscing at the 

 apex above the insertion of the calyx-lobes. 



1. BEGONIA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. in Gen. Plant, i. 841. 

 Characters of the Order. 



The African species are for the most part berried, and more or less imperfect ; they 

 are, moreover, extremely difficult of analysis from dried specimens, and much allowance 

 must be made for the following descriptions. 



§ 1. Monoecious. Stem erect, tall. /Sepals 2. Petals 2. Styles 4, terete, simple, 



stigmatic on the inner surface towards the tip. Fruit lor, 



Leaves ovate-oblong, long petioled, base cordate . 

 Leaves linear or linear-oblong, base cordate . . 

 Leaves ovate-oblong, short-petioled, base rounded 

 Leaves narrow-lanceolate, petiole very short . . 



I II. 



g, slender, A-angled. 



1. B. Mannii. 



2. B.furfuracea. 



3. B. excelsa. 



4. B.polygonoides. 



