Olax.} xxxix. OLACINE^. (Maxwell T. Masters.; 575 



cup-shaped, hypogynous disk, more or less 3-celled below, 1-celled above ; 

 style simple, terminal, stigma 3-lpbed ; ovules 3, linear, pendulous from 

 the apex of a central placenta. Fruit more or less covered by the accrescent 

 fleshy calyx ; stone crustaceous, 1-celled, 1-seeded. Seed inverse, albumi- 

 nous ; embryo minute, in the apex of albumen ; radicle superior. DISTRIB. 

 A genus of 25-30 species, natives of the tropics of the Old World. 



1. O. scandens, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 163; Cor. P/Jj^t. 102; scandent, 

 prickly, leaves ovate oblong or oblong-lanceolate, racemes many-flowered, 

 peduncles ascending longer than the bracts. Wall. Cat. 6774 A to G ; 

 W. & A. Prodr. i. 89 ; Miq. FL Ind. Bat. i. pt. i. 785 ; Dah. & Gibs. Bomb. 

 Fl. 27 ; Thwaites Enum. 42 ; Brandis For. Flor. 75. O. Bador, Ham. in 

 Wall. Cat. 6778. O. psittacorum, VaM Enum. 34, partly. Roxburg&ia 

 baccata, Koen. ex W. & A. Prodr. i. 89. 



Tropical WESTERN HIMALAYA, in Kumaon ; BEHAR ; CENTRAL and SOUTHERN INDIA ; 

 KOHILKUND, BIRMA, TfiNASSERiM ; CEYLON, in hot dry parts of the Island. DISTRIB. 

 Java. 



Trunk as thick as a man's thigh. Branches terete, more or less pubemlous, prickles 

 stout, curved. Leaves distichous, 2 by 1 in., yellowish-green, glabrous or sometimes 

 puberulous beneath ; petiole ^- in., puberulous. Racemes solitary, axillary, half 

 the length of the leaves ; peduncles puberulous, twice the length of the minute bracts. 

 Flowers small, white. Calyx puberulous or glabrescent. Petals 3-5-6, irregularly 

 cleft. Fertile stamens 3, anthers oblong. Staminodes 2-fid. Ovary ovoid-oblong 

 1-celled, 1- rarely 3-ovulecl. Drupe ovoid or globose, 3-4ths covered by the accres- 

 cent calyx. Variable in the form and vestiture of the leaves as well as in the degree 

 of cohesion of the petals. From this latter cause the number of petals in different 

 flowers appears to vary and the relative position of the fertile stamens and petals 

 seems to be different. Wallich's 0. Bador is rather more pubescent than the other 

 specimens. 



2. O. imbricata, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 164 ; scandent, unarmed, leaves 

 ovate-oblong acute, racemes many-flowered, peduncles ascending scarcely 

 longer than the bracts. Wall. Cat. 6775 A, B; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. i. pt. 

 i 785. 



CHITTAGONG and MARTABAN at Amherst, Wallicli. DISTRIB. Java, Philippines. 



Branches slender, terete, young shoots puberulous. Leaves distichous, 4 by If in. and 

 upwards, coriaceous, glabrous, base rounded ; petiole \ in. Racemes axillary, compact, 

 provided, when young with large (for the genus), ovate, concave, imbricate bracts so 

 as to resemble the spikelets of a Briza (Roxb.), ultimately about 1 in., dichotomous, 

 many-flowered ; peduncles puberulous. Flowers nearly in. Petals 6, combined in 

 3 pairs. Fertile stamens 3, nearly as long as the 6 bifid staminodcs. Fi\ut 4 in., ovoid, 

 glabrous. 



3. O. Wig-htiana, Wall. Cat. 6779; shrubby or arborescent, leaves 

 ovate-oblong, racemes many-flowered lax, peduncles drooping longer than 

 the bracts. W. and A. Prodr. i. 89 ; Dah. and Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 27 ; T/iwaites 

 Enum. 42 ; Beddom.e Fl. Sylv. Anal. Gen. t. 9, f. 2. O. lucida, ll?yne in 

 Wall. Gat. 6777. O. psittacorum, Void Enum. V&parlly ex W. & A. Prodr 

 i. 89. O. zeylanica, Wall. Cat. 6777 B*. 



WESTERN PENINSULA, from the Concan southwards ; MALACCA, Griffith ; CEYLON, in 

 the warmer parts of the island. 



A shrub or small tree (Beddome), a scandent shrub (Dalz. and Gibs.). Branches terete, 

 glabrous. Leaves 3-4 by 1^ in. ; glabrous, shining above, paler beneath; petiole 4 in., 

 glabrous or puberulous. Raceme 1 in., axillary, solitary or clustered, simple or 

 branched; peduncles in., distichous. Floivcr-biids cylindric-clavate. Flower 

 Calyx cupular, puberulous. Petals 5. Fertile stamens 3, half the length of the 



