Cassyta.] laurine^k. 295 



ances or suckers. Flowers small, distant, in spikes of 1 to 2 in. Perianth 

 about 1 j- lines long, the lobes about the length of the tube. Filaments of the 

 3 outer stamens broad and petal-like, of the 6 others filiform. Anthers all fer- 

 tile. Berry about 3 lines diameter, crowned by the persistent connivent 

 perianth-lobes. 



Common all over the island, Champion and others. Widely distributed over tropical 

 Asia, extending into Africa and Australia. 



Order XC. PROTEACE^]. 



Flowers usually hermaphrodite. Perianth-segments 4, usually valvate in 

 the bud. Stamens as many, opposite to and inserted on the segments. An- 

 thers 2 -celled, opening longitudinally. Ovary superior, 1 -celled, with 1 or 2 

 collateral ovules. Style simple, with an entire or rarely 2-lobed stigma. 

 Fruit an indehiscent nut, or a follicular or 2-valved capsule. Seeds 1 or 2, 

 without albumen. Embryo straight, with an inferior radicle. — Trees, shrubs, 

 or rarely herbs. Leaves usually alternate, entire or divided, without stipules. 



A large Order, chiefly abundant in Australia and S. Africa, with a few species dispersed 

 over S. America, or tropical Asia and Africa. 



1. HELICIA, Lour. 



Flowers regular. Perianth-segments linear, more or less dilated at the top. 

 Anthers sessile on the dilated portion. Hypogynous glands 4. Ovules 2, 

 ascending. Style club-shaped at the top. Fruit an indehiscent nut. — Trees 

 or shrubs. Leaves all entire or toothed. Flowers in axillary racemes. Peri- 

 anth-segments rolled back. 



A genus of several species, but confined to tropical Asia. 



1. H. cochinchinensis, Lour.; Meisn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 442. A 

 perfectly glabrous tree. Leaves oval-elliptical or oblong, acuminate, entire or 

 coarsely serrate in the upper part, 3 to 5 in. long, narrowed into a petiole of 

 3 to 6 lines. Eacemes 4 to 5 in. long, flowering from the base. Pedicels 

 about 2 lines long, usually in pairs and often united to the middle. Perianth 

 slender, about 6 lines long. Hypogynous scales not half so long as the ovary, 

 veiy obtuse, free or slightly united at the base. 



Hongkong, Wright. S. China, Herb. Hook. I have not seen authentic specimens of 

 Loureiro's plant, which, according to Meisner, has shorter pedicels and the hypogynous scales 

 acute ; but the specimens agree so well in other respects, that I have little doubt that they 

 belong to the same species. In that case it extends probably southward to the Archipelago. 



Order XCI. THYMELE^]. 



Flowers usually hermaphrodite. Perianth tubular or campanulate, 4- or 

 5-lobed ; the lobes imbricate in the bud, with the addition, in many genera, 

 of 1 or 2 small scales alternating with the lobes at their base. Stamens either 

 as many or twice as many as lobes, or rarely 2 only, and if of the same num- 

 ber as the lobes, opposite to them. Anthers opening longitudinally. Ovary 

 free, 1- or rarely 2 -celled, with 1 or rarely 2 or 3 pendulous ovules. Fruit an 



