Ct/athogT/ne.] cxxii. euphorbiace^ (hutchixson). 655 



on the Gaboon River, Mann, 971! near Libreville, Klaine, 1804! 1854! 1868 f 

 1877 ! 2074 ! 2101 ! 2159 ! 2782 ! Lower Congo : Mnyomba, Lecomte, 9 ! 

 Sotttb Central. Belgian Congo : Eala, Laurent, Pynaert, 655. 



5. C. Preussii, Pax in Engl. Jahrh. xxiii. 521. Habit of C. 

 viridis ; stems puberulous. Leaves obovate-elliptic, shortly acuminate, 

 acute or subacute at the base, 2|-4J in. long, 1^2 in. broad, mem- 

 branous, margin subentire in the lower third, the other two-thirds 

 coarsely repand-dentate, glabrous or nearly glabrous on both surfaces ; 

 lateral nerves 5-6 on each side, distinctly looped and reticulate some 

 distance from the margin, distinctly impressed above, slightly prominent 

 below ; tertiary nerves and veins vpry indistinct ; petiole 2-4 lin. long, 

 tomentellous ; stipules subulate, 1-1 J lin. long, pubescent. Malt 

 flowers not known. Female racemes 1 J in. long, few-flowered ; axis 

 puberulous ; bracts small, ovate-triangular, acute, puberulous ; pedicels 

 rather stout, about 1 lin. long. Calyx-lobes broadly ovate, puberulous, 

 about \ lin. long. Disk annular, sparingly pubescent. Ovary thinly 

 pubescent ; styles distinct, thick, shortly bifid, glabrous. Fruits 

 unknown. 



Upper Guinea. Cameroons: Victoria, Pre?/.?.v, 1210; Bipinde, Zew/ter, 891 ! 



An impoi-fect specimen collected by Lecomte (E. 6) at Mayomba in Lower Congo 

 probably belongs here. 



24. MARTKETIA, Beille in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Iv. Mem. viii. 64. 



Flowers dioecious. Petals absent. Disk absent from both sexes. 

 IMale flowers : Sepals 4, slightly imbricate ? Stamens 5-7 ; filaments 

 shortly connate at the base around a small bifid rudimentary ovary ; 

 anthers extrorse; cells parallel, contiguous, dehiscing longitudinally, 

 connective produced slightly beyond the apex of the cells. Female 

 flowers : Sepals 5-6. Ovary 2-celled, each cell nearly completely divided 

 by a false septum between each pair of ovules, thus resembling a 

 4-celled ovary with 1 ovule in each cell ; styles 2, connate at the base, 

 linear and undivided, slightly twisted, spreading in the same plane as 

 the false septa; ovules 2 in each cell. Mature fruits and seeds not 

 seen. — A shrub? Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, chartaceous, 

 entire ; stipules small, deciduous. Flowers in axillary racemes. 



Species 1, endemic. 



Martretia is remarkable among the genera of PhyUanthece in iiaving a two- 

 celled ovary, each cell being nearly completely divided by a false septum. 



1. M. quadricornis, Beille in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Iv. Mem, 

 viii. 64. Branches clothed with a dull-grey bark ; young branchlets up to 

 3 in. long, terete, glabrous. Leaves lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or ovate- 

 elliptic, gradually acuminate to an acute or mucronate apex, cuneate at 

 the base, 4-9 in. long, li-3J in. broad, entire, chartaceous, glabrous 

 and somewhat dull on both surfaces ; lateral nerves 10-15 on each side, 

 very slender, looped and anastomosing freely well within the margin, 

 distinct and slightly prominent on both surfaces ; petiole 2-3 lin. long, 



