232 loganiacejE. [Strychnos. 



bract, whilst the opposite leaf remains normal. Flowers in axillary or ter- 

 minal cymes, clusters, or panicles. 



A considerable genus, dispersed over the tropical regions of the New and the Old World. 



Flowers in axillary panicles, the parts in fours. Corolla divided almost 



to the base. Fruit scarcely £ in. diameter 1. S. paniculata. 



Flowers in small trichotomous terminal cymes, the parts in fives. Co- 

 rolla-tube as long as tbe lobes. Fruit full 14 in. diameter ... 2. S. angustijlora. 



1. S. paniculata, Champ, in Kew Journ. Bot. v. 57. A shrub or tree, 

 glabrous except a slight pubescence on the inflorescence. None of the speci- 

 mens show any thorns or hooks. Leaves ovate, 1^ to 2-| in. long, on very 

 short petioles, coriaceous and shining when full-grown, although thin at the 

 time of flowering. Flowers numerous, in axillary panicles, usually longer 

 than the leaves. Calyx minute. Corolla-tube exceedingly short ; the lobes 

 usually 4, rotate, rather more than a line long, with a tuft of woolly hairs at 

 the base. Berry globular, nearly ^ in. diameter, usually 1 -seeded. 



In woods in the Happy Valley, Champion. In the Happy Valley and on Victoria Peak, 

 Wi/ford ; also Wright. On the adjacent continent, but not known out of S. China. 



2. S. angustiflora, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. i. 102. A woody 

 climber, glabrous except a slight pubescence on the inflorescence, with here 

 and there an axillary recurved hook 1 to 2 in. long, and sometimes the old 

 branches become thorny. Leaves from orbicular to ovate-acuminate, 1| to 3 

 in. long, on petioles of 2 or 3 lines, coriaceous and shining when old. Flowers 

 in rather small trichotomous cymes, on short lateral leafy branches. Calyx 

 very small. Corolla-tube ly to near 2 lines long ; the limb of 5 narrow lobes, 

 about the length of the tube, hairy at the base. Berry globular, red, full 1| 

 in. diameter. — S. colubrina, var. ?, Benth. in Kew Journ. Bot. v. 56, not of 

 Linn. 



Common in the island, Champion and others. Not as yet received from elsewhere. 



5. GJERTNERA, Lam. 



Calyx 5- or rarely 4-lobed or toothed. Corolla-tube cylindrical; the limb 

 of 5 or rarely 4 lobes, valvate in the bud. Stamens as many, included in the 

 tube. Ovary 2-celled, with 1 erect ovule in each cell. Fruit succulent, in- 

 dehiscent, but readily separating into 2 cocci. — Shrubs or small trees. Leaves 

 opposite, entire, with interpetiolar stipules often forming a short sheath within 

 the leaves. Cymes or panicles terminal, trichotomous. 



A considerable genus, ranging over tropical Asia, Africa, and Australia. 



1. G.? hongkongensis, Seem. Bot. Her. 384. 



This species is founded on some specimens of Champion's, evidently in a monstrous state, 

 which I thought might have been those of an Apocyneous plant. The additional specimen, 

 however, described by Seemann, has the lower perfect leaves with stipules like those of a 

 JRandia, and the plant may therefore possibly belong to Gcertnera, to which Seemann refers 

 it : but the genus must remain very doubtful until the plant is again found. The lower per- 

 fect leaves are broadly oblong, 2 or 3 in. long, narrowed at the base but scarcely stalked ; 

 the stipules shortly sheathing, with a long point or bristle on each side. Flowers tetramerous, 

 ju'obably when perfect in a terminal cyme, which in these specimens grows out into leafy 

 branches, some proceeding from the centre of a diseased flower. 



