Mcesa.] XLVII. MYRSINE^E. 283 



wise on one side. Seeds with few exceptions albuminous, often with 

 more than one embryo. Royle 111. 264; Wight 111. ii. 137. 



Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary 1. MjESA. 



Calyx free ; petals free to the base ...... 2. Embelia. 



Calyx free ; petals united in a short tube, with a deeply-lobed limb. 

 Corolla without appendages ; anthers longer than short filaments. 



Flowers in dense axillary clusters 3. Myrsine. 



Flowers umbellate, corymbose, or paniculate . . . .4. Ardisia. 

 Corolla with appendages; filaments long ; flowers in axillary 



clusters 5. Reptonia. 



1. M^JSA, Forskal. 



Flowers in simple or compound racemes with small bracts and two 

 bracteoles under each flower. Calyx-tube adherent, limb 5-lobed, corolla 

 5-lobed. Stamens 5, filaments slender, anthers short. Ovary inferior or 

 half-superior. Ovules numerous, more or less embedded in a fleshy pla- 

 centa. Style short. Berry crowned by the persistent calyx-lobes, many- 

 seeded. 



Glabrous, racemes much longer than petiole . . . 1. M. indica. 

 Pubescent, racemes as long as petiole . . . . 2. M. argentea. 



1. M. indica, A. DC. ; Wight Ic. t. 1206. Syn. Bceobotrys indica, 

 Eoxb. Fl. Ind. i. 557. Vern. Kalsis, Kamaon ; AtJci, Bomb. 



A large shrub, sometimes with a tendency to climb ; glabrous, inflor- 

 escence only slightly pubescent. Leaves elliptic-oblong ovate-oblong or 

 lanceolate, 3-6 in. long, on petiole \ -in. long, membranous, dentate, with 

 large distant teeth, edge revolute. Flowers white, mostly unisexual, on 

 slender pedicels, as long as flowers, in compound, nearly sessile, axillary 

 racemes, the racemes of male flowers 1-2 in. long, longer than those of the 

 female flowers ; bracts shorter than pedicel. Calyx-lobes obtuse, slightly 

 ciliate or pubescent. Anthers broad, nearly rotundate. Berry globose, 

 white, T V in. across. This and other species of Msesa are liable to a pecu- 

 liar monstrosity, the flowers being replaced by dense spikelets of closely 

 imbricated bracts, which transform the racemes into dense sterile panicles. 



A common shrub in South India, Burma, and Bengal. In the sub-Himalayan 

 tract west to the Ganges, ascending to 5000 ft. Also in Ceylon, China, the 

 Indian Archipelago. The specimens from N.W. India certainly belong to M. 

 indica ; whether M. montana, A. DC, is a distinct species, I do not venture to 

 decide. Fl. at different times, chiefly April-Oct. ; the berries ripen in the 

 course of three months, and are eaten in Nepal. In Canara the leaves are used 

 to poison fish. 



2. M. argentea, Wall. Fl. Ind., ed Carey, ii. 233. Vern. Phusera, 

 gogsa, JST.W.P. 



A large shrub, 6-8 ft. high; branches subscandent, clothed with soft 

 and dense pubescence. Leaves elliptic, 6-10 in. long, dentate with sharp 

 teeth, slightly pubescent above, white or grey-tomentose beneath, acu- 

 minate, on petiole 1 in. long. Flowers white, on short pedicels, in short 

 compact axillary racemes as long as petiole, with a few short branches 



