Mohlana.] cviii. phytolaccace^ (baker and wright). 95 



inserted on a hypogynous disk ; filaments subulate, sometimes connate 

 at the base ; anther-cells parallel, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary 

 superior ; carpels one or many, concrete or distinct ; style none or 

 short ; stigmas as many as the carpels, linear or capitate ; ovules soli- 

 tary, basal, with a short funicle. Fruit of one or many carpels, fleshy 

 or dry. Seed erect, compressed ; testa membranous or crustaceous ; 

 embryo peripheric, enclosing the albumen ; cotyledons foliaceous or 

 subcylindrical ; radicle long. — Shrubs or herbs, rarely trees. Leavea 

 alternate, entire ; stipules none or small. Flowers usually racemose, 

 green or whitish, small. 



Species about 60, concentrated in tropical America. 



Carpel 1 ; style simple 1. Mohlana. 



Carpels 2 or moi-e, united into a 1-celled ovary ; styles 2-5 . 2. Miceotea, 

 Carpels several, free, or united into a several-celled ovary ; 



styles free 3. Phytolacca, 



1. MOHLANA, Mart. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 81. 



Flowers hermaphrodite, racemose. Perianth campanulate, oblique, 

 herbaceous, cut down nearly to the base into 4 unequal oblong seg- 

 ments, the lowest the largest. Stamens 4, hypogynous, not longer 

 than the perianth ; filaments filiform ; anthers versatile, sagittate. 

 Ovary globose or ovoid, 1-celled ; style short, erect ; stigma penicillate ; 

 ovule sessile, amphitropous. Fruit lenticular ; pericarp rather fleshy, 

 adnate to the seed. Seed erect, lenticular; testa crustaceous, black, 

 shining ; embryo annular, encircling the farinose albumen ; cotyledons 

 linear, convolute. 



Monotypic. 



1. M. nemoralis, Mart. Nov. Gen. et Sp, iii. 171, t. 290. An 

 erect annual herb. Stems erect, slender, branched, glabrous, 3-4 ft. 

 long. Leaves alternate, petioled, oblong, acute or acuminate, entire, 

 membranous, up to 6 by 2 in. Racemes moderately dense, 2-5 in. 

 long, shortly peduncled ; rhachis sometimes pubescent ; pedicels erecto- 

 patent, as long as the flowers ; bracts lanceolate, acuminate, green, 

 deciduous. Perianth obliquely campanulate, glabrous, dark green, 2 lin. 

 long ; segments .strongly veined in fruit. Fruit lenticular, as long as 

 the flower. — Moquin in DC. Prodr. xiii. ii. IG; Schmidt in Mart. Fl. 

 Bras. xiv. ii. 338, t.77; Cummins in Kew Bulletin, 1898, 78. M. secunda, 

 Mart. I.e. 172. M. c/uineensis, Moquin, I.e. 15. M. latifolia, Moquin, 

 I.e. IG. ^[. apeialcL; Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 174. Rivina latifolia, Lam. 

 111. i. 324. li.apetala, Schum. ^ Thonn. Beskr. Guin. PI. 84. R. affinis, 

 Nees et Mart. Nov. Act. Xat. Cur. xi. 30. R. hiaqualis, Hook. Ic. PI. 

 ii. t. 130. Ililleria elastica, Veil. Fl. Flum. i. 47, t. 122 ; Hiern in Cat. 

 Afr. PL Welw. i. 900. //. secunda, 0. Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. ii. 551. 



Upper Guinea. Guinea, Thonning. Gold Coast: Assin Van Kumassi, 



Cummins, 5-1 ! Togo : near Lome, Warnecke, 427 ! Southern Nigeria : Lagos, 



