Lasianthus.] RUBiACEiE. 161 



In a ravine of Mount Parker, only one plant seen, Wilford. In Chittagong, Malacca, 

 Penang, Singapore, and Sumatra, and also in the Nilgherries, if L. Jackianus be really the 

 same. 



17. PSYCHOTRIA, Linn. 



Calyx-limb short, 5-lobed, 5-tooth.ecI or entii'e. Corolla-tube short; lobes 

 5, spreading, valvate in the bud. Anthers included in the tube or shortly 

 exserted. Style with 2 short stigmatic lobes. Ovary 2 -celled, with 1 erect 

 ovule in each cell. Fruit a drupe, wdth 2 kernels, flat on the inner face and 

 usually fun'owed on the back. — Shrubs or smaU trees. Stipules 1 or 2 on 

 each side, sometimes all united in a sheath within the petioles. Flowers in 

 terminal cymes or very rarely axillary. 



A large genus, ranging over the tropical regions both of the New and the Old World, 



Erect shrub. Leaves 3 to 5 in. long LP. elHptica. 



Trailing or spreading shrub. Leaves seldom 2 in. long 2. P. serperis. 



1. P. elliptica, Xer ; Bot. Reg. viii. 607; DC. Prod. iv. 509. An 

 erect glabrous slu-ub. Stipules broad, membranous, obtuse, more or less 

 connected in a sheath within the petioles, deciduous. Leaves eUiptical-ob- 

 long, acuminate, 3 to 5 or rarely 6 in. long, naiTowed into the petiole. Pa- 

 nicle terminal, sessile ; the branches trichotomous and densely cymose at the 

 top, shorter than the last leaves. Flowers about 2 lines long. Calyx very 

 short, truncate ; coroUa almost campanulate, with a short obconical tube and 

 spreading lobes. Drupes red. Albumen of the seeds much niminate. — P. 

 Peeve&ii, Wall. ; DC. Prod. iv. 519. Grimilia Reevesii, Hook, and Am. Bot. 

 Beech. 193. 



Very common on hillsides, C/iamjxion and others. Also on the mainland of S. China and 

 in Malacca. 



2. P. serpens, Linn.; BC. Prod. iv. 519. A much-branched, prostrate 

 or trailing shrub, quite glabrous. Stipides broad, obtuse, shortly sheathing, 

 but very deciduous. Leaves ovate or obovate-oblong, 1 to 1-|- or rarely 2 in. 

 long, naiTowed into the petiole. Panicle terminal, peduncled, tnchotomous, 

 not large, and rather dense. Flowers rather smaller than in P. elliptica ; calyx 

 obtusely and minutely toothed. Corolla slightly mealy outside; the lobes 

 rather longer than the' broad tube, haiiy in the throat. Benies smaU, white. 

 Albumen sHghtly fuiTowed and pitted, but not reaUy raminate. — P. scandens. 

 Hook, and Am. Bot. Beech. 193. 



Common in Hongkong, Champion and others ; also on the mainland of S. China, in Loo- 

 choo, and perhaps also Malacca, Griffith, and the Feejee Islands, American Exploring Expe- 

 dition, but I do not feel certain of the specific identity of the two latter, Thwaites re- 

 fers P. scandens, Hook, and Arn., to P. sarmentosa, Blume ; but that synonym can only 

 relate to the Ceylon plant called P. scandens by Gardner and some others, not to the Chinese 

 plant originally described under that name. The true P, sarmentosa, a widely distributed 

 species from Ceylon and the Peninsula to the Archipelago, besides having longer and dilTerently 

 shaped more acuminate leaves, has the etipules (which can only be seen on young shoots) re- 

 markably acuminate, as described by Miquel, and some slight differences in the flower, 



18. PiEDERIA, Linn. 

 Calyx-limb small, 5-tootlied, persistent. Corolla-tube broad; lobes short, 

 valvate, and folded in the bud. Anthers included in the tube Style with 2 



