nacetB?^ myrsinace^. 203 



alburninoiis, except in ^giceras. Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple, 

 entire or toothed, without stipules. Flowers small, in axillary clusters, ra- 

 cemes, or panicles, or rarely in terminal panicles. 



A considerable Order, widely distributed over the tropical and subtropical regions of the 

 New and the Old World, and there replacing the Primulacece, of which it may be considered 

 as a Suborder, only differing in the woody habit and succulent fruit. 



Ovary wholly or partially inferior 1. M.esa. 



Ovary superior. 



Petals free to the base. 



Petals and stamens usually 5. Racemes slender, forming a terminal 



panicle 2. Embelia. 



Petals and stamens 4. Racemes or clusters short, axillary .... 3. Samara. 

 Petals united in a short tube, with a deeply lobed limb. 

 Flowers in axillary clusters or branching racemes. 



Flowers clustered. No scales or appendages to the corolla between 



the lobes .4. Myrsine. 



Flowers in axillary branching racemes or short panicles. Small 

 appendages or scales alternating with the coroUa-lobcs between 



the stamens 7. Reptonia. 



Flowers iu umbels usually pedimculate, and sometimes forming panicles. 



Ovary and fruit obtuse, globular, or ovoid ^ 5. Ardisia. 



Ovary and fruit acuminate, becoming long and curved 6. -^giceras. 



1. M^SA, Forst. 



Calyx-tube adherent, the limb 5 -lobed. Corolla 5 -lobed. Stamens 5, 

 filaments slender, anthers short. Ovaiy inferior or half-superior. Style 

 short. Berry crowned by the calyx-lobes or teeth. — Trees or shrubs. 

 Flowers small, in simple or compound racemes, either axillaiy or very rarely 

 terminal. Bracts at the base of the pedicels, and 2 bracteoles under the 

 flower, usually veiy small. 



A genus limited to the tropical regions of the Old World. 



Corolla-tube shorter than the very spreading lobes, and scarcely longer 

 than the calyx 



Plant pubescent \. M. sinensis. 



Plant glabrous or the inflorescence scarcely pubescent. 



Berry small, nearly dry 2. M. indica. 



Berry white, succulent, 3 or 4 lines diameter 3. J/, moittana. 



Corolla-tube longer than its lobes, and twice as long as the calyx ... 4. J/, coriacea. 



1. M. sinensis, DC. Trod. viii. 82. An erect shrub, the branches, the 

 veins, and sometimes the whole surface of the leaves, and the inflorescences 

 pubescent. Leaves oblong or elliptical, 2 to 4 in. long', irregularly toothed, 

 on petioles of 3 to 4 lines, rather thin, or scarcely coriaceous when old. Ra- 

 cemes usually branched, \ to near \\ in. long. Pedicels very short, seldom 

 1 line long. Calyx-lobes ovate, rather obtuse, longer than the tube. Corolla 

 with a very short tube, the lobes spreading to 2|- lines in diameter. Bcny 

 the size of a grain of pepper, not very succulent. 



Common in the island, Champion and others, also on the adjacent coast, but not known 

 out of S. China. 



2. M. indica, A. I)C. Prod. viii. 80 ; Wight, Ic. t. 1206. A shmb, with 

 the foliage, fliowers, and small fruits of M. sluensi.<<, but quite glabrous, except 

 occasionally a minute pubescence thinly scattered on the racemes and calyxes. 



