Octolepis.] CXVIII. TIIYxMEL.EACE^ (PEARSOX). 255 



imbricate. Petals usually in pairs opposite the sepals, ciliate, sub- 

 spathulate. Stamens 8, in 2 whorls ; filaments dilated at the base, 

 subulate above, ciliate. Ovary superior, 4-celled ; style elongate ; ovule 

 solitary in each cell, pendulous, anatropous. Fruit unknown. — Makokoa 

 congolana, Baill. in Bull. Soc. Linn. Paris, i. 610. 

 Ziower Guinea. Frencli Coul'o: Ogowe, Thollon^ 3i3, 



Order CXIX. LORANTHACE^. (By T. A. Sprague.) 



Flowers regular or zygomorphic, hermaphrodite or unisexual, 3-fi- 

 merous. Calyx superior, gamosepalous, lobed or truncate, sometimes 

 obsolete. Corolla superior, polypetalous or gamopetalous, petaloid or 

 sepaloid, valvate in bud. Stamens as many as and opposite the petals 

 or corolla-lobes, and inserted on them ; anthers usually 2-celled, some- 

 times divided into numerous small cells, which may be arranged 

 irregularly {ViscnTn) or in 2 or 4 vertical rows {Loranthus). Disc 

 superior, annular or absent. Ovary inferior, usually without a distinct 

 placenta and ovule ; style simple or absent ; stigma not or hardly lobed. 

 Fruit baccate (in all the African species), crowned by the persistent 

 calyx when the latter is present ; pericarp sticky. Seed solitary, 

 albuminous or exalbuminous, without a distinct testa ; embryo fairly 

 large, terete or angled, with distinct hypocotyl and 2 (more rarely 3-(i) 

 cotyledons, — Chlorophyll-containing shrubs or more rarely herbs, para- 

 sitic on other plants ; very rarely trees. Leaves opposite, ternate or 

 alternate, simple, entire, exstipulate, sometimes reduced to mere scales 

 or teeth. Inflorescence racemose or cymose. Flowers often large and 

 brightly colour-ed {LorantJiUs), or small, greenish and inconspicuous 

 '{Viscum). 



Genera 24, chiefly tropical and subtropical ; sjiecies about 1000. 



Calyx present, tlious^h sometimes reduced to a small rim ; 



flowers liermapliroilite (in all the African species) . . 1. Loranthus. 



Calyx obsolete ; flowers unisexual . . , , .2. Viscuii. 



1. LORANTHUS, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PL iii. 207 



(excluding the American species) ; Engl, in Engl, k Prantl, 



Pflanzenfam. iii. i. 183. 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx more or less lobed, or truncate, some- 

 times very short, occasionally provided inside at the base with a fleshy 

 annular thickening (intramaryinal ring). Corolla polypetalous or, more 

 frequently, gamopetalous, regular or zygomorphic ; tube often split uni- 

 laterally for some distance downwards when the flower expands. Fila- 

 ments united in their lower part with the petals ; anthers introrse, not 

 versatile. Style filiform, or gradually thickened upwards in the upper 

 part and then rather suddenly contracted into a narrow neck below the 

 stigma {skittle-shaped) ; stigma truncate or more or less capitate. Fruit 

 baccate, usually globose, ovoid or ellipsoid, crowned by the persistent 



