AjJOrosa.l EUPHORBlACEiE. 317 



under small bracts. Stamens 2 to 5 ; filaments free ; anther-cells distinct, 

 globular. Female flowers : Ovary 2-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell. Styles 

 very shortly united, short, recurved, retuse, or 2-lobed, Drupes 2-celled, or 

 more frequently 1 -celled and 1 -seeded by abortion. Cotyledons broad. — 

 Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, undivided, coriaceous ; petioles usually 

 short. 



A small tropical Asiatic genus. 



Female spikes very short, clustered, without anthers 1. A.frutescens. 



Female spikes cylindrical, | in. long. Ovary surrounded by sterile 



anthers 2. ^. leptostachya. 



1. A. frutescenSy Blume, Bijdr. 514. A shrub or tree, either wholly 

 glabrous or the branches and young parts pubescent. Leaves oblong or ovate- 

 oblong, shortly acuminate, 3 to 5 in. long, entire or with a few broad teeth. 

 Stipules very deciduous, 2 to 3 lines long. Male catkins solitary, or 2 to 4 

 together in the axils of the leaves, sessile or shortly pedunculate, •§- to 1 in. 

 long. Bracts broad, ciliate. Stamens 2 or 3. Female spikes very short, 

 usually 2 or 3 together and quite sessile. Ovary quite glabrous or very hairy. 

 Drupe ovoid, 4 or 5 lines long. — Scepa chinmsis, Benth. in Kew Journ. J^ot. vi. 

 72, and probably several other supposed species of Scepa. 



Common in the island, Champion and others. Widely distributed over a great part of 

 India and the Archipelago. 



2. A. leptostachya, Benth., n. sp. A shrub, the young parts rusty- 

 pubescent. Leaves as in the last species, oblong, scarcely acuminate, entue or 

 with a few callous teeth, 2 in. long (or perhaps more). Stipules obliquely 

 ovate-lanceolate, 2 to 3 lines long. Male catkins 1 in. long; the flowers 

 densely clustered. Stamens 2 to 4. Female spikes cylindi'ical, nearly as 

 long as the males. Flowers clustered. Perianth-segments 4 to 6. Ovary 

 contracted at the base and usually surrounded by 3 or 4 sessile apparently 

 sterile anthers. Styles (or style-branches) short, recurved, retuse, but not 

 2-lobed. — Jlnus, sp. ?, Benth. in Kew Journ. Bot. vi. ]15. 



Hongkong, Champion. Not seen in any other collection, but a second fragnu-nt among 

 Champion's plants, with a female spike, has enabled me to ascertain that it belongs to Jpo- 

 rosa, although still insufficient to say whether it be really distinct or an abnormal state of 

 A.frutescens. 



22. ANTIDESMA, Linn. 



Flowers dioecious, the males in catkins ; the females in racemes or spikes. 

 Perianth small and calyx-like, of 3 to 5 segments or lobes. Male Howers : 

 Stamens 2 to 5, filaments free. Female flowers : Ovary 1 -celled, with 2 pen- 

 dulous ovides. Styles 3 or 4, very short and divergent, united at the base. 

 Fruit a drupe, usually somewhat flattened and oblique. — Trees or shrubs. 

 Leaves alternate, entire. 



A considerable genus, spread over the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World. 

 Leaves glabrous, oblong or ovate-lanceolate. Female flowers pedun- 

 culate. 



Leaves 4 or 5 in. long. Male catkins long and slender .... ]. J. Biotius. 



Leaves 1 to 3 in. long. Male catkins not 1 in 2. A.jciponicum. 



Leaves pubescent, obovate or orbicular. Female flowers sessile . . "i. A. paniculatum. 



