Symplocos.] stybacacejK. 213 



very short tube. Stamens numerous. Ovary glabrous on the top. Fruit 

 nearly globular, about 2 lines diameter, crowned by the persistent calyx- 

 lobes. 



Hongkong, Harland. On the adjacent Continent, and widely spread over E. India from 

 Ceylon and the Peninsula to Khasia, Silhet, and the Archipelago, varying considerably in 

 foliage. The Chinese specimens agree, however, precisely with the common Silhet form. 



1. STYRAX, Linn. 



Calyx campanulate, truncate or obscurely toothed, shortly adherent at the 

 base or free. Corolla deeply 5-lobed (rarely 4- or 6-lobed) ; the lobes imbri- 

 cate or valvate in the bud. Stamens twice as many as corolla-lobes, appa- 

 rently in a single series ; filaments short ; anthers linear, erect. Ovary half- 

 inferior or entirely superior, completely or incompletely 3-celled or almost 1- 

 celled. Ovules attached to the axis, several in each cell, all erect or the upper 

 ones erect and the lower pendulous. Style filiform, with an entire or 3-lobed 

 stigma. Fruit surrounded at the base by the persistent calyx, globular or 

 ovoid, either indehiscent or the rather thick pericarp opening more or less 

 into 3 valves. Seed solitary, erect, globular or ovoid. Albumen fleshy. Em- 

 bryo usually oblique. — Shrubs or small trees, usually more or less covered 

 with a close mealy or scaly pubescence. Flowers much larger than in Sym- 

 plocos, usually drooping, either 1 or 2 in the upper axils or forming a short 

 loose terminal raceme. 



A considerable genus, ranging over the tropical, subtropical, or even temperate regions of 

 the northern hemisphere, and extending also southward of the tropics in S. America. 



Leaves green and glabrous on both sides. Corolla-lobes imbricate in 



the bud \. S. odoratissima. , 



Leaves scaly-pubescent, or tomentose underneath. Corolla-lobes val- 

 vate in the bud : 2. S. suberif 



1. S. odoratissima, Champ, in Kew Journ. Bot. iv. 304. A beautiful 

 moderate-sized shrub, with very little of the scurfy pubescence of the genus, 

 except on the inflorescence and flowers. Leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong, 

 acuminate, 2 to 3 in. long, on a petiole of 2 to 4 lines, usually entire, thin, 

 green on both sides, and reticulately veined. Flowers white, sweetly scented. 

 Calyx near 3 lines long. • Corolla white, near ^ in. long, the lobes thin and 

 much imbricated. Ovary completely 3-celled when young, with the ovules all 

 ascending, and adnate to the calyx to about one-half its length. Fruit to- 

 mentose, globular or slightly ovoid, obliquely acuminate by the persistent 

 style, by which it differs from that of most species, either indehiscent, or rarely 

 splitting into 3 valves from the base upwards, or from the apex downwards. 



. Ravines of Mount Victoria, Champion ; also Wright. Not known out of the island. 



2. S. suberifolia, Hook, and Am. Bot. Beech, t. 40 ; DC. Prod. viii. 

 261. A shrub or small tree, the branches, under side of the leaves, and inflo- 

 rescence covered with a dense scaly pubescence or toinentum, which often as- 

 sumes a reddish colour. Leaves from oval-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, acu- 

 minate, 2 to 4 in. long, narrowed into a petiole of about | in., usually entire, 

 coriaceous, glabrous and reticulate on the upper side. Pedicels very short. 

 Calyx 1^ lines long. Corolla about 5 lines ; the lobes narrow-oblong, valvate 



