Ardisia.] mybsinace^:. 207 



veins on the under side numerous and very divergent, but very fine and scarcely 

 prominent. Peduncles axillary or terminal, rather slender, ^ to 1 in. long, 

 bearing sometimes 1 sometimes 3 or 4 umbels, each of 4 to 8 small white 

 flowers. Pedicels slender, 2 to 3 lines long or 4 lines when in fruit. Calyx- 

 lobes very small. Corolla-lobes scarcely above 1 line long, and very acute. 

 Drupes 3 or 4 lines in diameter. 



In ravines, Champion and others. It has a wide range in southern Asia, as we have it 

 from the mountains of Ceylon and of the Indian Peninsula, from Khasia, from Java, and from 

 Loochoo, and it probably includes some species published in the Prodromus or in MiqueFs 

 Flora under other names. 



4. A. chinensis, Bent/?., n. sp. A prostrate glabrous undershrub, the 

 leafy branches ascending to the height of a few inches, seldom above £ ft. 

 Leaves obovate, obtuse, or obtusely acuminate, L| to 2^ in. long, entire or 

 with a few irregular obtuse teeth in the upper part, cuneate at the base, on a 

 petiole of 2 or 3 lines; the lateral veins numerous, diverging from the midrib 

 with but little reticulation. Pruiting peduncles slender, about \ in. long, 

 bearing an umbel of 3 pedicels of 3 or 4 lines. Calyx-lobes small, acute. 

 Benies globular, with the seed and persistent subulate style of Ardisia. I 

 have not seen the corolla or stamens. — A. japonica, Benth. in Kew Journ. 

 Bot. iv. 301, not of Blume. 



In a ravine of Mount Victoria, Champion. Not received in any other collection. I had 

 at first taken this for the J.japonica, whicb I only knew from Lamarck's figure, but having 

 now seen specimens of that plant from C. Wright's collection, I find that it differs in several 

 points, especially in the numerous fine serratures, and much more reticulated veins of the 

 of the leaves, which are also differently shaped. 



5. A. primulsefolia, Gardn. and Champ, in Kew Journ. Bot. i. 324. 

 A low hairy half-herbaceous plant. Stem simple, rooting at the base, ascend- 

 ing to the height of a few inches, covered with the knotty scars of old leaves. 

 Leaves in a spreading tuft at the top of the stem, sessile, obovate, 4 to 6 in. 

 long, 2 to 3 in. broad, broadly crenate or rarely entire, thin and membranous, 

 covered on the upper side as well as the inflorescences, with long reddish 

 jointed hairs. Peduncles 2 to 3 in. long, bearing at the top 1 to 3 or 4 um- 

 bels of pink spotted flowers, about the size of those of A. crispa. Calyx-divi- 

 sions narrow-lanceolate, acute, hairy. Corolla-lobes acute. Berry scarlet, 3 

 or 4 lines diameter. 



In grassy places in ravines, Mounts Victoria, Gough, etc., Champion, Wilford ; also 

 Wright. Not known out of the island. 



6. .33GICERAS, GsBrtn. 



Calyx free, 5 -cleft, convolute. Corolla with 5 very spreading lobes, convo- 

 lute in the bud. Stamens as many, filaments subulate, anthers lanceolate, the 

 cells divided transversely into numerous pits. Ovary superior. Style subulate, 

 acute. Pruit cylindrical, curved, opening as the seed grows in one or two 

 longitudinal slits. Seed without albumen. Cotyledons thick and fleshy. — 

 Maritime shrubs or trees, with the habit of Rhizophorce, and like them the 

 seed is said to germinate before the fruit falls off, but with the resinous dots 

 and other characters of Myrtinece. Plowers white, in umbels, or very short 

 umbel-like racemes. 



A small genus, confined to the seacoast of tropical Asia and Australia. 



