72 



APOCYNE^:. I. ECHITES. 



t Genera hardly known. 



62 MONE'TIA. Corolla of 4 petals ? ; petals somewhat re- 

 flexed, alternating with the segments of the calyx. Stamens 4, 

 hypogynous ; anthers sagittate, incumbent. Stigma acute. 

 Fruit rather fleshy, pea-formed, 2-celled; cells 1 -seeded. Seeds 

 compressed or peltate. Prickly shrubs. 



63 ALA'FIA. Corolla tubularly ventricose, with a 5-parted, 

 twisted limb ; segments plicately sinuated on one side. Anthers 

 acute, distinct, connivent ; filaments bound by the style, which 

 is filiform, and furnished with 5 appendages. Stigma inclosed, 

 capitate, acuminated. 



64 LEUCONOTIS. Calyx 4-parted. Corolla tubular ; limb 4- 

 'obed. Stamens 4, inclosed. Ovarium 2-celled ; cells bi-ovu- 

 late. Stigma annular, conical at top. Berry 1-3-seeded. Seeds 

 exalburninous. 



Tribe I. 



ECHITIE'jE. Seeds furnished with a tuft of hairs, at the 

 superior or umbilical extremity. Fruit of 2 follicles. 



I. ECHTTES(so named from f^ig, echis, a viper ; perhaps on 

 account of its deleterious quality, or from its twining habit; 

 tXtrne, echites, is the serpent stone.) P. Browne, jam. p. 182. 

 R, Br. in wern. soc. 1. p. 59. Echites, spec. Lin. gen. no. 299. 

 Jacq. amer. 29. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Monogynia. Calyx small, 5-parted. 

 Corolla salver-shaped, with a naked throat and tube ; segments 

 of the limb unequal-sided. Stamens inclosed ; anthers sagittate, 

 cohering by their middle to the stigma, having the hind lobes 

 without pollen. Ovaiia 2. Style 1, filiform. Hypogynous 

 scales 5. Fruit of 2 slender follicles. Twining shrubs. Leaves 

 opposite, having the interpetiolar cilia glandular. Peduncles 

 interpetiolar, many-flowered. Flowers showy, white, yellow, 

 and purple. 



1 . Flowers umbellate or corymbose. 



1 E. TJMBELLA'TA (Jacq. amer. p. 30. t. 22. ed. pict. t. 29. 

 Lin. spec. 307.) leaves ovate-orbicular, cuspidately mucronate: 

 glabrous, glandless at the base ; umbels few-flowered ; calycine 

 segments lanceolate. fj . / "\ S. Native of St. Domingo, Cuba, 

 and Jamaica, among bushes, and in hedges. Apocynum obli- 

 quum, Mill. diet. no. 8. Sloane, hist. l.jp. 207. t. 131. f. 2. 

 Brown, jam. p. 182. Leaves 2| inches long. Interpetiolar 

 cilia short, subulate. Corolla silky, villous inside the tube, 

 large, with a white or pale yellow limb, and green tube. 



Umbellate-flowered Echites. Fl. July. Clt. 1733. Shrub tw. 



2 E. OBLONGIFOLIA (Desf. herb, ex Hamilt. prod. fl. ind. occ. 

 p. 30.) leaves ovate-oblong, auriculately cordate, bluntish, 

 mucronate, shining above, quite glabrous on both surfaces, 

 somewhat parallelly nerved ; peduncles one half longer than the 

 leaves ; flowers large, umbellate. 1? . ^. S. Native of Guiana. 



OtZong-leaved Echites. Shrub tw. 



3 E. LITTOREA (H. B. et Kunth. nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 212.) 

 leaves oblong, cuspidately mucronate, glabrous, glandless at the 

 base ; umbels 2 or 5-flowered ; calycine segments ovate-lanceo- 

 late. T? . ^. S. Native of Cuba, by the sea side, near Guana- 

 vacoa. Branches filiform. Interpetiolar cilia subulate. Flowers 

 white, like those of E. umbellata. 



Sea-shore Echites. Shrub tw. 



4 E. CHRISTOPHORIA'NA (Hamilt. prod. fl. ind. occ. p. 31.) 

 stems fuscescent, red, with bitter bark ; leaves very bitter, turned 

 to one side, on short petioles, roundish ovate, acute, pale green 

 above, but paler beneath, with yellowish nerves ; petioles 

 incurvedly declinate, with axillary glands ; peduncles axillary, 

 interpetiolar, elongated, dichotomous, furnished with many 

 bracteas beneath; pedicels crowded, 1-flowered. Jj . *"*. S. 



Native of St. Christopher, by the sea shore. Flowers yellow, 

 glabrous, having the throat marked with rufescent lines. 

 St. Christopher Echites. Shrub tw. 



5 E. CURU'KA (Mart, ex Linnaea. 6. p. 30.) stem arboreous, 

 twining a little ; leaves oblong, with a short acumen, acutish at 

 the base, reticulately veined beneath ; racemes corymbose, 

 many-flowered, axillary, and terminal ; calycine segments imbri- 

 cate, ovate, obtuse ; throat of corolla downy : segments obovate- 

 roundish. I? . ^. S. Native of Brazil, on the banks of Rio 

 Negro. 



Curura Echites. Shrub tw. 



6 E. SCA'BRA (Labill. sert. cal. p. 26. t. 31.) leaves elliptic, 

 somewhat undulated, acuminated ; cymes axillary and terminal ; 

 corollas hairy. ^ . '"'. S. Native of New Caledonia. Thenardia 

 scabra, Spreng. syst. addend, p. 65. Stem pilose at top. Co- 

 rollas scabrous outside, from hairs. Anthers linear-sagittate. 



Scabrous Echites. Shrub tw. 



7 E. BIFLORA (Jacq. amer. 38. t. 21. icon. pict. t. 28. Lin. 

 spec. 307.) leaves oblong, obtuse, mucronate, glabrous ; pedun- 

 cles 2-flowered ; calycine segments small, ovate. fj . / *\ S. 

 Native of most of the West India Islands, in salt marshes. Swartz. 

 obs. p. 103. Plum. amer. 82. t. 96. Leaves attenuated at the 

 base, obtuse, with a small mucrone, 3 inches long. Corollas 

 white, but with a yellow throat ; tube narrow. 



Two-flowered Echites. Fl. July. Clt. 1793. Shrub tw. 



8 E. NUMMULA'RIA (Burm. ind. t. 28. f. 1.) leaves cordate, 

 acuminated ; peduncles 2-flowered, bifid in the middle. f? . '"'. 

 S. Native of the West Indies. Probably only a variety of E. 

 biflbra. 



Money-wort-leaved Echites. Shrub tw. 



2. Flowers racemose. 

 * Leaves oblong. 



9 E. DOMINGE'NSIS (Swartz, prod. p. 52. fl. ind. occ. 1. p. 

 529.) leaves ovate-cordate, or ovate-oblong, acute, glabrous above, 

 rather rusty, and somewhat downy beneath ; peduncles 1-2-3- 

 flowered ; calycine segments subulate, hairy. lj . < "\ S. Native 

 of Jamaica and Hispaniola, among bushes by the sea side. 

 Jacq. coll. 1. p. 73. icon. rar. 53. E. heterophylla, Gmel. syst. 

 1. p. 437. Stems downy. Flowers large, yellow ; throat villous, 

 wide. Hypogynous glands yellow. 



St. Domingo Echites. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1820. Shrub tw. 



10 E. BARBA'TA (Desv. herb, ex Ham. prod. fl. ind. occ. p. 

 30.) stems weak ; branches downy ; leaves quite glabrous, obo- 

 vate, mucronate, vaguely veined ; peduncles elongated ; flowers 

 panicled ; calycine segments subulate ; corolla having the tube 

 bearded with pili, contracted a short way at the base, and 

 widened above the calyx. fj . ^. S, Native of the West Indies. 



Bearded Echites. Shrub tw. 



1 1 E. REOPENS (Jacq. amer. 33. t. 28. icon. pict. t. 33.) leaves 

 lanceolate-linear, or ovate-lanceolate, glabrous ; peduncles race- 

 mose ; calycine segments lanceolate. Pj . r> . S. Native of St. 

 Domingo, among rocks, and on the edges of woods. Stems 

 glabrous sarmentose, when old procumbent and rooting, and 

 when young erectish. Peduncles usually bifid. Flowers elegant, 

 red. Hypogynous glands roundish. 



Creeping Echites. Shrub tw. 



12 E. CONCOLOR (Desv. herb. ex. Hamilt. prod. fl. ind. occ. 

 p. 31.) stems weak ; leaves thick, elliptic-lanceolate, rounded 

 at the base, mucronate, of the same colour on both surfaces, 

 almost veinless ; flowers axillary and terminal, twin ; caly- 

 cine segments lanceolate, bluntish ; tube of corolla inflated at 

 top. ?2 . ^. S. Native of Hispaniola. Very nearly allied to 

 E. repens. 



One-coloured-\eaveA Echites. Shrub twining. 



13 E. LINEARIFOLIA (Desv. herb, ex Ham. prod. fl. ind. occ. 



