Sarcostigma.\ xxxix. OLACINE^:. (Maxwell T. Masters.) 595 



ANDAMAN ISLES, Kurz. 



Branches woody. Leaves 7 by 3| in., coriaceous, glabrous, base obtuse ; petiole 

 short. Fruit 1 in., obliquely oblong, obtuse, densely covered with orange-coloured 

 down, shining white within, pulp sweet, edible (Kurz}. Probably only a form of 

 S. Kleinii. 



21. NATSIATUBI, Ham. 



A climbing shrub. Wood porous, with inconspicuous medullary rays. 

 Leaves alternate, petiolate, simple, 7-9-nerved. Flowers dioecious, in supra- 

 axillary racemes. MALE fl. : Calyx deeply 5-parted, persistent, not 

 accrescent. Petals 5, free, or united at the base. Staminodes 5, opposite the 

 petals, outside the stamens. Fertile stamens alternate with the petals ; 

 anthers erect, apiculate, bilocular, dehiscing longitudinally. Pistil rudi- 

 mentary. FEMALE fl. : Sepals and petals as in the male. Staminodes 

 4-6, hypogynous, alternating with an equal number of compressed glands. 

 Ovary sessile, villous ; style short, apex 2-3-lobed, stigmas capitate ; 

 ovules 2, collateral, pendulous, raphe dorsal. Drupe obliquely ovoid, com- 

 pressed; stone crustaceous, 1-celled. Seed solitary, albumen fleshy; 

 radicle superior, cotyledons leafy, orbicular, 3-5-nerved. 



1. N. herpeticum, Ham. in Wall. Cat: 4252 ; Am. in Edin. New Phil. 

 Journ. xvi. 314 ; N. sp. Griff. Notul iv. 330 ; Ic. PI. As. t. 496, f. 1. 

 Natsiatum herpeticum, Ham. ex R. Br. in Benn. PL Jav. Rar. 245 ; Miq. 

 Fl. Ind. Bat. i. pt. i. 797. Sicyos pentandrus, Wall. Cat. 6682, ^. 



EASTERN BENGAL and the HIMALAYA, from Nipal, Sikkim, Silhet, and the Khasia 

 Mts., alt. 3000 ft., to CHITTAGONG and PEGU. 



Herbaceous portions strigose. Brandies as thick as a goose-quill. Leaves distant, 

 3-6 in., membranous, roughish, cordate-ovate, acute, repand, 7-9-nerved; petiole longer 

 than the blade. Racemes supra-axillary, long, slender, pendulous, many-flowered. 

 Bracts small, linear, pedicels about the length of the flower. Flowers minute, 

 greenish-yellow. MALE. fl. : Calyx lobes valvate, lanceolate, scabrid. Petals 5, alter- 

 nate with the calyx-lobes and one-third longer, lanceolate. Glands (staminodes ?) 5, 

 fleshy, 2-lobed. Fertile stamens opposite the sepals, filaments very short ; anthers 

 sagittate ; connective glandular. FEMALE fl. : staminodes subulate. Drupe in. 



DOUBTFUL SPECIES. 



N. GAMOSEPALUM, Griff. Notul. iv. 330. Menispermea, Itin. Notes 114, is Lopho- 

 phyllum bicristatum, Griff. (See p. 105.) 



22. IODES, Blume. 



Climbing shrubs, rarely erect. Leaves opposite, or subalternate, petiolate, 

 simple, 1-nerved. Inflorescence cymose, cymes axillary or extra-axillary ; lower 

 peduncles often sterile, cirrose. Flowers dichlamydeous, dioecious. MALE fl. : 

 Calyx minute, cup-shaped, 5-toothed. Corolla 3-5-merous, lobes valvate.- 

 Stamens hypogynous, equal in number to, and opposite the lobes of the 

 corolla ; anthers basifixed, straight, 2-celled, introrse, dehiscing longitudi- 

 nally. Pistil rudimentary. FEMALE fl. : Calyx as in the male. Corol ! a^-5- 

 parted, tubular below and often dilated. Staminodes 0. Ovary subsessile, 

 1-celled, with 2 collateral pendulous ovules ; funicle dilated into an "ob- 

 turator ;" stigma sessile, discoid, 5-lobed. Drupe surrounded at the base 

 by the persistent, but not accrescent calyx, stone 1 -seeded. Seed pen- 

 dulous, testa thin, albumen fleshy ; cotyledons flat, leafy; radicle superior. 

 DISTRIB. Species about 6, natives of India, the Archipelago, and of tropical 

 Africa. 



QQ 2 



