Gelonium.] cxxii. euphorbiace.e (prain). 949 



and often much larger than the outer and the two inner ; the inner- 

 most (sixth) often very small, sometimes obsolete. Stamens 20. 

 Female: Sepals T), not glandular on the back, subequal. Ovary 

 :>-celled, glabrous; styles 2-fid, lobes lanceolate. Fruit shallov.'ly 

 3-sulcate, J in. wide, separating into 2-valved cocci ; endocarp thinly 

 crustaceous. Seeds subglobose ; testa crustaceous not at all foveolate. 

 — Prain ex S. Moore in Journ. Linn. Soc. xl. i^Ol. G. lithoxijlon, Pax 

 ♦fe K. Hoflm. in Engl. Pflanzenr. Euphorb.-Gelon. 22. 



Wile Iiand. IJritisli East Africa: Ukamba; Sontli of Nairobi, Elliot, 178 ! 



Mozamb. Dlstr. German East Africa : Amani, 7Far«e<?Xe, 380 ! Rhodesia: 

 Gaziiland; Chirinda Forest,. 3700-4000 ft., iSwijnnerton, 104! Chimaiiimani 

 Mountains, 7000 ft., Swynnerton, 1115 ! 



72. PLUKENETIA, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. iii. 327. 



Flowers monoecious, apetalous. Disk 0. Male : Calyx subglobose 

 in bu-d, splitting into 4 valvate segments. Stamens 8-40, inserted on 

 ii prominent receptacle ; filaments short, free, mixed with inter-staminal 

 glands ; anthers small, cells globose or didymous, parallel. Rudimentary 

 ovary 0. Female : Sepals imbricate. Ovary normally 4-celled ; ovules 

 solitary ; styles connate in a stout short or distinct column continuous 

 with the carpels, surmounted by 4 cruciformly spreading short ovate 

 stigmas. Capsule fleshy or dry, subglobose or depressed, splitting into 

 4 winged or appendaged cocci. Seeds compressed, with a narrow 

 marginal wing, or globose and sometimes 3-ribbed on one side ; testa 

 crustaceous ; albumen fleshy ; cotyledons broad, flat. — Shrubs, or herbs 

 with woody bases, usually scandent. Leaves alternate, petioled, 

 3-5-nerved from the base, margin crenate or dentate. Racemes 

 axillary or leaf -opposed, rarely terminal ; flowers pedicelled, males 

 many, often subfascicled, usually small ; females few, solitary, subbasal 

 or basal. 



Species about 12, in the warmer regions of botli hemisplicrcs, but chieHy in 

 America. 



Shrub; stems scandent, 10-20 ft. high; leaves large, 



ovate, 3-nerved, loDg-petiolcd ; stamens about 40 . 1. P. conopJtora. 

 Herbs with a woody base; stems 1-2 ft. high or lojig; 

 leaves smaller, short-petioled. 

 Leaves lanceolate or ti-iangular-oblong, 5-nerved and 

 more or less distinctly 2-lobed at the base; racemes 

 lateral ; stems erect or scandent. 

 Stamens about 8 ; leaves finely dentate, sometimes 



deeply sagittate at the base ; stems scandent . 2. P. hastata. 

 Stamens about 12 ; leaves rather coarsely toothed, 



not sagittate ; stems erect . . . . 3. P. africana. 



Leaves ovate, without basal lobes, 3 -nerved at tlie base ; 



racemes terminal ; stems prostrate . . , 4. P. jprocvmhent. 



1. P. conophora. Mall Arg. in Flora, 18G4, 530. Shrub; stems 

 climbing, 10-20 ft. long, glabrous. Leaves long-petioled, rather firmly 



