SAPIXDACEAE. 253 



less, tomentose; leaflets 3, nearly sessile, thin, narrowly elliptic to obovate 

 entire, obtuse or rounded at the apex, narrowed or cuneate at the base, 2-8 cm! 

 long, glabrous and green a})ove, Avhite-tonientose beneath, or becoming green 

 when old, the niidvein rather prominent, the lateral veins few an<l slender; 

 racemes many-flowered, peduncled, 2-6 cm. long; pedicels filiform, 4-5 mm'. 

 long, single or fascicled; calyx and petals about 1 mm. long; samaras glabrous, 

 shining, veiny, obtuse, 8-10 mm. long. 



Rocky coppices and scrub-lands, on the larger Islands throughout the archi- 

 pelago from Abaco and Great Bahama to Mariguana. Inagua and North Caicos. 

 Endemic. Quicksilver-bush. Xaked-wood. II.MtD-HAHK. 



4. AliLOPHYLUS L. Sp. PI. 348. 1753. 



Shrubs or small trees, with alternate estipulate 1-3-foliolate leaves, the 

 leaflets broad, usually punctate or lineate, the small subglobose, somewhat 

 irregular, polygamous or dioecious flowers in axillary, simple or compound 

 racemes. Sepals 4, in 2 pairs, imbricated, hooded, the outer smaller than the 

 inner. Petals 4, small, or sometimes wanting. Disk unilateral, lobe<l or 

 4-glandular. Stamens short. Ovary excentric, compressed, 2-celled or rarely 

 3-celled; ovules 1 in each cavity; style stout, 2-3-lobed, or styles 2 or 3. Fruit 

 small, dry, leathery or fleshy. Seed with a short fleshy aril; cotyledons 2-plicate. 

 [Greek, exotic] Eighty species or more, mostly of tropical America. Type 

 species: AUophylus zeyJanicus L. 



1. Allophylus Cominia (L.) Sw. Prodr. 62. 1788. 

 Bhus Cominia L. Syst. ed. 10, 964. 1759. 



A shrub or small tree or sometimes up to about 15 m. high, the twigs, 

 petioles, lower leaf -surfaces and inflorescence brownish-tomentose. Petioles 

 rather slender, 2-7 cm. long; leaflets 3, short-stalked, elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 

 low-serrate 4-15 em. long, acute or acuminate at the apex, narrowed or rounded 

 at the oblique base, the lateral ones inequilateral; racemes very slciKhM-, long- 

 peduncled. densely many-flowered, simple or few-branched, 5— S cm. Inii^^ the 

 flowers fascicled; pedicels 1-1.5 mm. long; flowers greenish yellow, about 1 mm. 

 long; fruits subglobose, about 5 mm. in diameter, red or orange. 



Coppices, Abaco and Xew Providence: — Cuba; Ilispanlola ; .Jamaica. Ai.i.o- 



PHYLUS. 



5. MELICOCCA L. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 495. 1762. 



Trees, with alternate estipulate equally pinnate leaves, and small polyg- 

 amous or dioecious, regular flowers in compound or simple racemes at tin- ends 

 of the branches. Calyx 4-5-lobed, the lobes nearly orbicular, thin, imliricated. 

 Petals 4 or 5, obovate or orbicular. Disk flattened, 4-5-lobed. Stamens 8; 

 filaments filiform, distinct, glabrous; anthers small. Ovary 2-3-celled; ovules 

 1 or 2 in each cavity; style short; stigma 2-3-lobed. Fruit a somewhat fleshy 

 drupe. Seed erect, the testa coriaceous, the aril large, puljty; cotyIe<lons thick. 

 [Greek, honey-berry.] Two known species, the following tyi>ical, the other 

 South American. 



1. Melicocca bijuga L. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 495. 1762. 



A large tree, sometimes becoming 25 m. high, with a trunk u|> to 1.7 m. 

 in diameter, the branches spreading, the slender twigs, the leaves and the 

 inflorescence glabrous. Leaves petioled ; rachis winged or wintde-s: Ic.Ttlrts 2 



