210 EHENACEiU. [Rospidios. 



A genus consisting of the following species only, and perhaps not separated from JDiospy- 

 ros on adequate grounds. 



1. R. vaccinioides, A. DO. Prod. viii. 220. A low much-branched 

 evergreen shrub, much resembling the common Box when growing. Branches 

 and young leaves covered with appressed rusty hairs. Leaves ovate, acute, 

 usually about \ in. long, coriaceous, glabrous when full grown, without any 

 prominent veins except the midrib. Mowers small, axillary, pendulous, nearly 

 sessile. Calyx-lobes 4, lanceolate-subulate, about \\ lines long, hairy. Co- 

 rolla-tube about as long, glabrous except a few hairs on the angles ; the 4 

 lobes short, spreading, and very acute. Berries globular. — JJiospi/ros vac- 

 cinioides, Lindl. in Hook. Exot. Fl. t. 139. 



Very abundant all over the island, Champion and others. Also on the hills of the Malayan 

 Peninsula. I have only seen male flowering and female fruiting specimens. 



2. DIOSPYROS, Linn. 



Flowers dicecious. Calyx and corolla-lobes 4, 5, or 6. Stamens usually 

 15 or 16 in the males, about 8 and sterile in the females. Ovary usually 4- 

 or 8-celled, rarely 10- or 12-celled, with 1 ovule in each cell. Styles 2 or 4, 

 more or less united at the base and usually 2 -cleft at the top. Berry 4- or 

 8-celled, usually covered at the base by the somewhat enlarged calyx. — Trees or 

 rarely shrubs. Flowers axillary, the females solitary, the males usually several 

 together in little clusters, sometimes lengthening out into cymes or racemes. 



A considerable genus, having nearly the same range as the Order, but rare in S. Africa. 



Glabrous. Leaves petiolate .... 1. D. Morrisiana. 



Branches, young leaves, and calyxes hairy. Leaves almost sessile . . 2. B. eriantha. 



1. D. Morrisiana, Fiance in Walp. Ann. iii. 14. A shrub (or tree?), 

 with the young shoots very slightly pubescent, otherwise quite glabrous. 

 Leaves oblong or the lower ones ovate, obtuse or acuminate, 2 to 4 in. long, 

 coriaceous, shining above ; the veins underneath few and slight, on petioles of 

 2 to 4 lines. Flowers white, the males 2 or 3 together, nodding, on pubes- 

 cent pedicels of about 1 line long. Calyx broadly campanulate, about 1 line 

 long, with 4 short triangular lobes. Corolla-tube nearly twice as long, with 

 4 short spreading lobes. Stamens 15 to 20, with hairy anthers. Female 

 flowers hitherto undescribed, and I have not seen them. Fruit yellow, ob- 

 long or nearly globular, about 8 lines diameter, 4 -celled. Seeds 1 in each 

 cell, chestnut-coloured, oblong, compressed. 



On Mounts Victoria, Gough, and Parker, Champion, Hanee ; also Wright. Not known 

 as yet out of the island. 



2. D. eriantha, Champ, in Kew Journ. Bot. iv. 302. A small tree ; the 

 young branches and under side of the young leaves covered with stiff appressed 

 rusty hairs, which disappear on the old leaves except on the midrib or prin- 

 cipal veins. Leaves nearly sessile, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, spreading in 

 opposite rows, smooth and shining above, with prominent very oblique veins 

 underneath. Flowers nearly sessile ; the females solitary, the males 2 or 3 

 together, not nodding. Calyx deeply lobed, very hairy, about 2 lines long 

 when in flower, twice as long in fruit, with ovate acute lobes, and surrounded 

 at the base by 2 or 3 imbricate obtuse deciduous scaly bracts. Corolla 

 white, very hairy outside ; the tube about 3 lines long ; the lobes about 2 lines, 



