84 



FLORA OF JAMAICA 



Phenax 



rudimentary. Female flowers : perianth wanting. Ovary 

 within a bract ; stigma elongate, slender, persistent ; ovule erect 

 from the base. Achene somewhat compressed. Seed, with 

 endosperm; cotyledons ovate. — Species 10, in tropical America. 



P. hirtus Wedd. in DC. Prodr. xvl. pt. 1, 23538 (1869). 

 P. urticsefolius Wedd. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, i. 192 (1854) & 

 Monogr. 495 ; Griseh. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 160 (in part). Boehmeria 

 hirta Sw. Prodr. 34 (1788) & Fl. Ind. Occ. 285. (Fig. 21.) 



Massonl Swartzl McNabl Purdie ; Wilson; Cinchona, J.P. 1306, 

 Hart ! Blue Mte. ; Cinchona, 5000 ft. ; Harris ! Fl. Jam. 5183, 9658.— 

 Central America and Andes. 



Plants to 2 • 5 m. high. Leaves ovate, acuminate, sometimes subcordate, 

 dentate-serrate, somewhat flat or rugose, sparsely hispid on upper surface, 

 nerves underneath hirtoUous, 3-12 cm. 1., 1-5-5 -5 cm. br. ; stalk to 3 cm. 

 1., hirtellous or puberulous. Flowers monoecious; clusters androgynous 

 (flowers of each sex commonly equal in number), spherical, "S-l cm. in 

 uiam. Male flowers with 4-lobed valvate perianth and 4 stamens. Achcncs 

 about J length of stigma. 



7. ROUSSELIA Gaudich. 



A perennial herb, tender, diffuse, with many branches. Leaves 

 alternate, small, broadly ovate, entire ; stipules small, free. 

 Flowers very small, monoecious, axillary ; male few in a small 

 cluster, each flower subtended by a small linear bract ; female 



geminate with two bracts, 

 bracts broad, foliaceous, free 

 from each other, but accres- 

 cent to the flowers. Male 

 flowers : perianth 4-partite, 

 valvate. Stamens 4. Ovary 

 rudimentary. Female flowers : 

 perianth ovoid, contracted at 

 the mouth, 2-4-toothed. Ovary 

 straight ; stigma filiform, 

 curved, papilloso-plumose on 

 one side ; ovule erect from 

 the base. Achene compressed, 

 ovate, acute, with the enlarged 

 perianth and attached bract 

 persistent. Seed with scanty 

 endosperm ; cotyledons ovate. 

 Species one, in the West 

 Indies. 



R. humilis Urh. Symh. 



Ant. iv. 205 (1905). R. lappu- 



lacea Gaudich. in Freyc. Voy. Bot. 503 (1826) & Voy. Bonite, t. 98 ; 



Griseh. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 160; Wedd. in DC. Prodr. xvi. pt. 1, 



235". Urtica humilis Sw. in Vet. Eandl. Stockh. vi. 34 (1785). 



Pig. 22. — Roxtsselia humilis Urb. 



A, Shoot bearing flowers. 



B, Male cyme. 



C, Bud of male flower with bract. 



D, Pair of female flowers. 



E, Pair of fruits with attached bracts. 



