228 Lxx. rubiacej: (hiern). [Lasianthun. 



67. LASIANTHUS, Jack; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. ii. p. 129. 



Calyx-tnbe subglobose ovoid or oblong ; limb short or long, 3-6- 

 toothed or -lobed, persistent. Corolla campanulate or funnel-shaped 

 or salver-shaped ; throat bearded ; lobes 4-6, valvate in the bud. 

 Stamens glabrous, exserted on the throat of the corolla; filaments 

 short ; anthers fixed at the back near the base, oblong or linear ; con- 

 nective apiculate. Disk short. Ovary 4-1 2 -celled; style with 4-12 

 obtuse branches ; ovules solitary, erect, anatropous, linear. Frait 

 4-12-pyrenous ; pyrenes keeled, 1-seeded. Embryo terete, elongated ; 

 radicle inferior. — Shrubs with distichous leaves, ovate or lanceolate 

 stipules, and small flowers fascicled in the axils. 

 A large genus chiefly inhabiting Tropical Asia. 



Xi. africanus, Hiem. A climbing shrub of 8 feet, ,'bearly gla- 

 brous and shining. Branches divaricate. Leaves ovate-oval, acumi- 

 nate, wedge-shaped at the base, firmly chartaceous, glabrous, 2^-4J by 

 1-1 J in., lateral veins about 5-6 pairs ; petiole i— J in. ; stipules \ in. long. 

 Flowers 4-5-merous, subsessile, a few together ; pedicels very short, 

 hairy. Calyx-limb cleft, rather small. Corolla not much exceeding 

 the calyx. Ovary 12-celled. Fruit 12-pyrenous, \ in. diameter. 

 Upper Guinea. Island of St. Thomas, at elevation of 600 feet, Mann ! 



A specimen from the country of the Gaboon Eiver also collected by Mann, has 

 larger leaves hairy on the midrib beneath and a fruit with 1 1 pyrenes ; it appears to 

 be a distinct but closely allied species. 



68. SIPHOMEBIS, Boj. in Rapp. de la Soc. d'Hist. Nat. de I'lle 

 Maurice (1826 and 1829), ex Boj. Hort. Maurit. p. 170. (Lecon- 

 tea, A. Rich. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. ii. p. 134.) 



Calyx-tube campanulate or ovoid ; limb 5-partite, segments subu- 

 late, elongated, recurving, persistent. Corolla salver-shaped, exceeding 

 the calyx ; tube elongated, slender, straight, at length splitting at the 

 base ; throat bearded or naked ; limb spreading, 5-partite, segments 

 oval ovate or oblong, valvate in the bud. Stamens 5, inserted at the 

 mouth or throat of the corolla, more or less exserted, glabrous ; fila- 

 ments short. Disk low. Ovary 2-3-celled ; style slender, branches 

 2-3, obtuse, spreading ; ovules solitary, erect, compressed. Fruit dor- 

 sally compressed or 3-sided ; epicarp membranous, bursting in a valvate 

 manner from the base ; valves 2-3, bifid at the base ; pyrenes 2-3, 

 compressed, suborbicular or oval, winged, retuse at both ends or at the 

 base, each suspended at the apex from a filiform exterior column. 

 Seed compressed ; testa very thin, polished ; albumen thin ; embryo 

 broad, thin, radicle short inferior, cotyledons foliaceous, venose, orbi- 

 cular or ovate. — Cliipbing undershrubs with petiolate thin leaves, ovate 

 or lanceolate stipules . and subsessile flowers in axillary and terminal 

 pedunculate clusters or solitary. 



A small genus occuring also in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. 



