Buxus.] cxxii. EUPHORBiACE^ (hutchinson). 609 



another ; ovules 2 in each cell, pendulous from the apex but distant 

 from the outer angle ; raphe dorsal. Capsule ovoid, loculicidal ; valves 

 2-horned with the persistent styles ; pericarp woody ; endocarp cartilagi- 

 nous. Seeds oblong or ellipsoid, with a small strophiole ; testa crus- 

 taceous, shining, usually black; albumen rather fleshy'; cotyledons 

 oblong. — Trees or shrubs, much-branched, usually glabrous. Leaves 

 evergreen, opposite, shortly petiolate, penninerved. Racemes or cyDies 

 axillary, sessile or shortly pedunculate. Bracts resembling the perianth- 

 segments. Flowers sessile or shortly pedicellate, the terminal one female, 

 the remainder male. 



About 21 species, 6 from temperate and montane regions of the northern hemi- 

 sphere, 3 from Tropical Africa, 1 each from Madagascar and South Africa, the 

 remainder West Indian. 



Anthers sessile ; rudimentary ovary absent from the male 

 flowers. 

 Leaves rhomboid-oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceo- 

 late, rounded at the apex, under 1 in. long and 



about ^ in. broad 1. ^. henguellensis. 



Leaves lanceolate or almost ovate-lanceolate, gradually 

 tapered to an obtuse or subacute apex, lf-2^ in. 

 long, ^l in. broad . . . . . . 2. B. nyasica. 



Anthers exserted, borne on filaments about 1^ lin. long ; 



rudimentary ovary present in the male flowers . 3. B. Hildehrandtii. 



1. B. benguellensis, Gilg in Engl. Jahrh. xxviii. 115. A tree 

 or shrub, glabrous in all its parts ; branchlets tetragonous, longitudi- 

 nally sulcate. Leaves rhomboid-oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, 

 gradually narrowed into a very short petiole, obtuse at the apex, less 

 than 1 in. long, about J ir). broad, subchartaceous to almost coriaceous, 

 shining on the upper surface, dull below ; nerves close, parallel, distinct 

 above but not below. Flowers not known. 



Ko-wer Guinea. Angola: 'S.w.xWa, Antunes, 4^x1 248! 



Var. hirta, Hutchinson in Kew Bulletin, 1912, ined. Branchlets rather densely 

 and shortly pubescent ; under surface of the leaves sparingly pubescent. Male flowers 

 solitary in each leaf -axil, subsessile, surrounded by 3 or 4 small scaly bracts. Perianth- 

 segments 4, decussate, ovate-elliptic, obtuse, -^ lin. long, ^ lin. broad, slightly coria- 

 ceous in the middle, membranous towards the margin, glabrous. Stamens 4; anthers 

 sessile, |- lin. long, glabrous. Rudimentary ovary absent. 



XiO-wer Guinea. Angola: 10 miles north of the mouth of Lifuni River, 

 Gossweiler, 4901 I 



2. "B, nyB.sicB,y Hutchinson in Xew Bulletiriy 1912, ined. A shrub or 

 tree ; branches subterete, slightly grooved, glabrous ; young branchlets 

 somewhat compresged, glabrous. Leaves lanceolate or subovate-lanceo- 

 late, gradually tapered to an obtuse or subacute apex, cuneate at the 

 base, li-2J in. long, J-J in. broad, entire, thinly coriaceous, slightly 

 shining above, dull below, glabrous on both surfaces ; lateral nerves 

 about 15 on each side, spreading from the midrib at an angle of 45°, 

 looped and forming an intramarginal nerve about J lin. from the 

 margin, visible on both surfaces ; petiole very short. Flowers axillary, 

 a male and female in the lower, often only a pair of females in the 



