160 RUBIACE^. [Morinda. 



ing a sessile terminal umbel, each peduncle 3 to 6 lines long, and bearing a 

 single smaU head of 6 to 12 flowers. Ovaries quite united. CoroUa scarcely 

 3 lines long ; the tube straight, rather shorter than the lobes. Fruits foi-ming 

 a compound globular berry 4 to 6 lines diameter. 



Common in Hongkong, Champion and others. Widely spread over tropical Asia, from 

 Ceylon and the Peninsula to Sikkim, Khasia, Malacca, and the Archipelago, and northwards 

 to the Philippines and Loochoo. The Hongkong specimens have mostly short and rather 

 broad leaves, rarely surpassing 3 in. in length. 



16. LASIANTHUS, Jack. 



(Mephitidia, Reinw.) 



Calyx-limb of 4 to 6 lobes or teeth. Corolla-tube usually dilated at the 

 top, lobes 4 to 6. Anthers included in the tube, or shortly exserted. Style 

 divided at the top into 4 to 9 stigmatic linear lobes. Ovary 4- to 9-celled, 

 with 1 erect ovule in each cell. Fruit a di-upe, crowned by the calyx-lobes or 

 teeth. — Shi'ubs or undershiiibs, often smelling disagreeably. Stipules 1 on 

 each side, pointed, with a broad base. Flowers small, in dense clustersor heads, 

 all axiUary in the Chinese species, terminal in some others. 



A genus of several species, limited to tropical Asia and chiefly in the Archipelago. 



Leaves glabrous above or pubescent. Bracts vei-y small. Calyx-teeth 



very short 1. X. chinensis. 



Whole plant very hairy. Outer bracts longer than the flowers. Calyx- 

 teeth subulate 2. Z. cyanocarpa. 



1. L. chinensiSy Benth. A shi-ub, with the young branches flattened 

 and shortly tomentose, the older ones terete and nearly glabrous. Stipides 

 broad, the upper ones rather long. Leaves oblong, acuminate, 6 to 10 in. long, 

 1|- to 2|- in. broad, naiTOwed at the base into a petiole of 3 to 5 lines, ^\dth 

 parallel veins conspicuous on both sides, diverging fi'om the midrib, glabrous 

 or nearly so above, slightly tomentose underneath. Flowers in dense sessile 

 clusters! Bracts veiy smaU. Calyx minutely toothed. CoroUa-tube about 

 2 lines long, haiiy in' the upper part ; lobes 5 or 6, about the length of the 

 tube, veiy haiiy outside, glabrous within. Dnipes globidar, pubescent, blue, 

 5 or 6 lines diameter. — Mepliitidia cUnensis, Champ, in Kew Jom-n. Bot. iv. 

 196. 



In the Happy Valley, on Victoria Peak, etc., Champion, Wilford, Wright. Not received 

 from elsewhere. It appears to be nearly allied to L. longifolius, Wight, and L. constnctus, 

 Wight, from the Malayan Peninsula, but difiers from both, as well^in the calyx asi n the 

 pubescence. 



2. L. cyanocarpus, Jack.; DC. Frod. iv. 452. An undershrub, with 

 nearly simple, erect or ascending branches of about 2 feet, more or less thickly 

 hirsute, as weU as the bracts and under side of the leaves, with rusty spread- 

 ing haii-s. Leaves shortly stalked, oblong, acuminate, 6 to 8 in. long, hir- 

 sute or sometimes nearly glabrous on the upper side. Flower-clusters sessile, 

 with several bracts, of which the outer ones are ovate or broadly lanceolate, 

 very haiiy, and often 1 in. long or more. Calyx-lobes linear-subulate, haiiy, 

 longer than the tube. CoroUa scarcely longer than the calyx-lobes. — L. brae- 

 teatus, L. RoxhurgJiii, and probably L. Jackianm, Wight in Mitchell, Calc. 

 Joum. vi. 501, 502. 



