29C} THYMELE^. [Thymelecs. 



indeliiscent nut or berry, or very rarely a 2-valved capsule. Seed without or 

 rarely with albumen. Embryo straight, with a superior radicle. — Shrubs or 

 trees, with a strinj^y bark, or rarely herbs. Leaves alternate or opposite, always 

 simple and entire. Flowers in terminal or axillary clusters, heads, umbels, 

 racemes, or spikes. 



A large Order, widely distributed over most parts of the globe. 

 Perianth 4-lobed. Ovary 1 -celled. 



Stamens 4, with slender filaments, inserted at the base of the tube . 1. Cansjera. 



Anthers 8, nearly sessile, in 2 rows uear the top of the tube. 



Hypogynous scales none. Leaves alternate 2. Daphne. 



Hypogynous scales 4. Leaves opposite 3. "Wikstrcemia. 



Perianth 5-lobed. Ovarj^ 2-celled 4. Aquilakia. 



1. CANSJERA, Gmel. 



Perianth short, deciduous, with 4 small lobes spreading or recui-ved, without 

 scales at the throat. Stamens 4, with slender filaments, inserted at the base 

 of the perianth. Hypogynous scales 4, alternating with the stamens. Ovaiy 

 fleshy, with a minute cavity and 1 (or 2 or 3 when very young) pendulous 

 ovule. Fruit a berry, with a single erect seed. Embiyo small, towards the 

 summit of a fleshy albumen. — Shrubby climbers. Leaves alternate. Flowers 

 small, in axillary spikes. 



A small tropical Asiatic genus. 



1. C. Hheedii, Gmel. ; Me'mi. in DC. Prod. xiv. 519; Wight, Ic. t. 

 1861. Young branches and inflorescence minutely pubescent or glabrous. 

 Leaves almost sessile, ovate-acuminate or broadly lanceolate, 1-^ to 3 in. long, 

 glabrous, evergreen, and rather thick. Spikes about 1 in. long. Flowers 

 yellow, sessile, distant. Perianth about 1^ lines long, with 2 minute bracteoles 

 at the base. — C. lanceolata, Benth. in Loud. Journ. Bot, i. 491. 



At East Point, in the Happy Valley and at Little Hongkong, Champion; also Wright. 

 In Ceylon and the Indian Peninsula, and in the Archipelago. 



2. DAPHJME, Linn. 



Perianth tubidar, with a spreading 4-lobed limb, without scales at the 

 throat Anthers 8, almost sessile, in 2 rows, near the top of the tube. Hypo- 

 gynous scales none. Ovaiy with 1 pendidous ovule. Fmit a beny. Seed 

 without albumen. — Shrubs or small trees. Leaves alternate. Flowers in 

 terminal or lateral, sessile or rarely pedunculate heads or clusters. 



A considerable genus, dispersed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa. 



1. D. Champloni, Benth., n. sp. A much branched shrub, more or less 

 silky-haiiT. Leaves alternate, oval or oblong, rather acute, about 1 in. long, 

 on veiy short petioles, silky-hairy underneath, less so above. Flowers sessile, 

 usually about 3 together, in axillaiy or lateral clusters. Peiianth densely 

 silky-pubescent, the tube 3 or 4 lines, the lobes ovate and obtuse, not 1 line 

 long. Ovary sessile or nearly so, hairy except at the base. — D. Fortunei, 

 Beuth. in Kew Journ. Bot. v. 196 ; not of Lindley. 



Hongkong, Champion, Hance ; in a ravine among rocks at the back of Headquarter 

 House, Wtlford. Champion's specimens were too young to ascertain the shape of the flower, 



