310 EUPHORBiACEiE. [Briedelia. 



globular, about 3 lines long, with 2 hemispherical cocci. — B. Loureiri, Hook, 

 and Arn. Bot. Beech. 211. 



In hedges, Champion. On the adjacent continent, in Sikkim, Assam, Silhet, the Malayan 

 Peninsula, and the Archipelago. Hooker and Amott describe it with a 3-merous ovary, 

 but that must have been an exceptional case. 



14. PHYLLANTHTJS, Linn. 



Flowers monoecious or rarely dioecious, in axillary clusters or solitary. 

 Perianth-segments 6, or rarely 5 or 4 in the males, imbricate in the bud, in 

 1 or 2 rows. Disk prominent and entire or lobed, or consisting of small dis- 

 tinct glands. Male flowers : Stamens 3, rarely 2 or 5, united in a central co- 

 lumn or free. Female flowers : Ovary 3-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell. 

 Styles free or united at the base, more or less 2-lobed. Capsule separating 

 into 2-valved cocci or loculicidally dehiscent. — Herbs, shrubs, or trees. 

 Leaves alternate, entire, usually small and distichous, giving the smaller 

 branches the appearance of pinnate leaves, in some American species wholly 

 wanting. Stipules small, usually persistent. Flowers small. 



A large genus, copiously diffused over the tropical and subtropical regions of both the 

 New and the Old World. 



Herbs, either annual or of short duration. 



Disk of male flowers broad, almost petaloid. Capsule ovoid- 

 globose 1. P. bacciformis. 



Disk of male flowers of small glands. Capsule depressed -globose. 

 Flowers nearly sessile. 



Perianth -segments ovate-oblong. Capsule muricate . . 2. P. urinaria. 

 Perianth-segments broadly obovate. Capsule smooth . . 5. P. maderaspatensis. 

 Pedicels longer than the perianth. Capsules smooth. 



Smaller branches almost filiform. Seeds striate . . . . 3. P. Niruri. 

 Smaller branches very flat. Seeds minutely tuberculate . 4. P. anceps. 

 Trees or shrubs. 



Much branched low shrubs. Disk thick, annular, truncate. 

 Male perianth-segments 6. Anthers 3. Styles united to the 



middle 6. P. cinerascens^ 



Male perianth-segments 4. Anthers 2. Styles distinct . . 7. P. leptoclados. 

 Tree. Disk in the males of distinct glands, in the females cup- 

 shaped 8. P. Emblica. 



1. P. bacciformis, Linn.; Roxb. Ml. Ind. iii. 661. A glabrous glau- 

 cous annual, or a perennial of short duration. Branches diffuse, angular, 6 

 in. to 1 foot or longer. Leaves oblong, 4 to 6 lines long, somewhat fleshy. 

 Flowers nearly sessile; the males few, the females solitary. Perianth-seg- 

 ments broadly ovate, acute. Anthers 3, sessile on the top of the column. 

 Disk in the males almost petaloid, 6-lobed, lining the base of the calyx, none 

 in the females. Style spreading, 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, globose, full 2 

 lines long, smooth. — Agyneia bacciformis, A. de Juss. ; Wight, let. 1893. 



Rocks on the seacoast, Hance. Common in pastures near the sea in the greater part of 

 India. The so-called arillus appears to be only a portion of the endocarp which separates 

 readily from the rest and often falls off with the seed. 



2. P. urinaria, Linn.; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 660. A glabrous annual, of 

 6 in. to 1 ft., erect or decumbent at the base, the stems slightly compressed. 

 Leaves distichous, oblong, very obtuse, about \ in. long. Flowers minute, 



