ZorantkllS.] LORANTHACEjE. 141 



on the base of the petals, with distinct filaments. Anthers 2 -celled. Ovule 1 . 

 Style filiform, with a terminal stigma. Berry usually crowned by the limb of 

 the calyx. — Leaves almost always opposite. Flowers sometimes small and 

 green, but usually long and brightly coloured. 



A very large genus, almost wholly tropical or subtropical, in America, Africa, Asia, and 

 Australia, with one species however as far north as the south of Europe. 



1. L. chinensis, DC. Prod. iv. 301, and Mem. Lor. t. 7. Branches op- 

 posite, rather slender ; the young shoots and leaves covered with a loose white 

 or reddish tomentum, which soon wears off. Leaves opposite, ovate, obtuse, 

 1^ to 2 in. long, cuneate or rounded at the base, on petioles of about 2 lines. 

 Flowers 2 to 5 together, on very short pedicels, usually arising from the nodes 

 of previous years' wood. Calyx-tube or ovary very small, turbinate, pubes- 

 cent. Corolla red, slightly tomentose, 8 or 9 lines long, very slender and 

 curved in the young bud, swollen in the lower part at the time of flowering ; 

 the lobes obliquely spreading, in 4 narrow pointed lobes, about 2 lines long. 



Upon trees, Hongkong, Champion. I have seen no other specimens ; but, if I am not 

 mistaken as to the identity, it is figured by De Candolle from Chinese specimens ga- 

 thered by Sir G. Staunton, and is probably the Chinese plant included by Linnaeus under 

 his L. scurrula, but not the species usually so called and represented by the synonym of 

 Petiver quoted by Linnaeus. The young buds in Champion's specimens are as slender as in 

 L. graciliflorus, but, just before they open, the tube assumes the oblique swollen form figured 

 by De Candolle, only that it does not appear to slit open on the upper side. 



2. VISCTJM, Linn. 



Flowers unisexual, monoecious or dioecious. Petals 3 to 5, very short. 

 Male flowers : Anthers sessile on the inside of the petals, and opening inwards 

 in several pores. Female flowers : Calyx entirely adnate or with a minute 

 annular border. Ovules 3. Stigma sessile. Seed erect. — Branches dichotomous. 

 Leaves opposite or none. Flowers usually very small, green or yellowish. 



The genus, as now reduced to the very few species with porous anthers, appears to be 

 confined to the Old World. 



Branches flattened, articulate, without leaves 1. V. articutatum. 



Branches terete. Leaves opposite 2. V. orientate. 



1. V. articulatum, Burm.; DC. Trod. iv. 284. A very much branched 

 parasite, forming tufts from a few inches to 1 or 2 feet diameter. Branches 

 flattened, articulate, often forked at nearly every joint ; the articles thick and 

 somewhat fleshy, 3 to 6 lines long and 1 to 2 lines broad in the Hongkong 

 specimens I have seen, in others, from the China coast or elsewhere, of 1 to \\ 

 in. long, from 1 to 3 or 4 lines broad, and usually obtuse at the top and nar- 

 rowed at the base. Leaves quite wanting. Flowers monoecious, minute, 

 sessile and clustered at the nodes; the females scarcely \ line long, nearly 

 globular, and half-buried in the cup-shaped entire bract; the males still 

 smaller, usually with 3 petals and anthers. — V. moniliforme, Blume; DC. 

 Prod. iv. 284; Wight, Ic. t. 1018 and 1019. 



On trees in the Happy Valley, Champion, and others. Widely spread over India and the 

 Archipelago, extending northward to Bonin and Loochoo. 



2. V. orientale, Willd.; DC. Prod. iv. 278. Branches elongated, 

 nearly terete, and always leafy. Leaves opposite, obovate, elliptical or oblong, 

 narrowed at the base, 3- or 5 -nerved, very variable in size, usually about 1£ 



