276 STEECULTACEAE. 



pedicels short; bractlets linear; calyx campanulatej 5-toothed, '2 -lipped, 5-6 mm. 

 long; petals white, fading reddish, 8-9 mm. long; column slender, glabrous, 

 3-5 cm. long; anther-sacs oblong; fruit linear, straight or a little curved, 1.5-4 

 cm. long, separating into 5, glalDrous, pointed follicles. 



Coppices and scrub-lands, Andros, New Providence, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Wat- 

 ling's, Great Exuma, Crool^ed Island, Acklin's, Fortune Island, North Caicos and 

 Inagua : — Cuba ; Hispaniola. Steaight-fruited Helicteees. Wild Salve. 



2. Helicteres jamaicensis Jacq. Enum. 30. 1760. 



Helicteres spiralis Northrop, Mem. Torr. Club 12: 50, pi. 11. 1902. 



A shrub, 1.5-3 m. high, or a small tree sometimes 6-7 m. tall, the foliage 

 densely stellate-tomentose. Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, 

 5-17 cm. long, mostly acute or acuminate at the apex, cordate or sometimes 

 rounded at the more or less oblique base, crenulate nearly all around, the stout 

 petioles 0.5-2.5 cm. long, the ujDper surface darker green than the lower; 

 peduncles stout, 2-3 cm. long, 1-few-flowered; pedicels short; calyx 1.5-2 cm. 

 long, 5-toothed, somewhat 2-lipped, densely tomentose; petals white, inequi- 

 lateral, somewhat longer than the calyx; column 6-10 cm. long, cleclined; 

 stamens 10; staminodia 5; ovary tomentose; carpels, about 10, spirally 

 twisted, densely tomentose, forming a cone-like, oblong fruit 2.5-5 cm. long. 



Coppices, thickets and white-lands, Abaco, Great Bahama, Andros, Mangrove 

 Cay, New Providence, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Marignana, Atwood Cay, Great Guana 

 Cay, Great Exuma, Long Island, Great Ragged Island, Crooked Island, Acklin's, 

 Fortune Island, Watling"s Island and the Inaguas : — Cuba to Tortola, St. Martin 

 and St. Croix ; Jamaica. Recorded by Schoepf as H. Isora L. Cow-bdsh. Salz- 

 BUSH. Blind-eye Bush. 



2. MOLUCHIA Medic. Malv. 10. 1787. 



Herbs, shrubs or small trees, with alternate toothed leaves, and small, 

 terminal or axillary, mostly clustered, perfect flowers, the petals flat, marees- 

 cent. Involucels none. Calyx 5-cleft, usually campanulate. Petals 5, nar- 

 row. Stamens 5, the filaments somewhat united below, opposite the petals; 

 staminodia none, or minute. Ovary 5-celled, each cavity 2-ovuled; styles 5, 

 distinct, at least above; stigmas clavate. Capsule pyramidal, loculicidally 5- 

 valved, 5-seeded, the seeds obovoid, ascending. Endosperm fleshy; embryo 

 straight; cotyledons flat. [Name altered from Melocliia.'] About 6 species, 

 of tropical and subtropical regions. Type species: Moluchia fruticosa Medic. 



Foliage stellate-tomentose or stellate-puberulent ; capsules with 



rounded angles. 1. M. tomentosa. 



Foliage nearly glabrous ; capsules with sharply acute angles. 2. M. pyramidata. 



1. Moluchia tomentosa (L.) Britton, Mem. Brooklyn Bot. Gard. 1: 69. 1918. 



Melochia tomentosa L. Syst. ed. 10, 1140. 1759. 



A branched shrub, 2 m. high or less, rarely a small tree up to 4 m. high, 

 the slender twigs, the leaves, inflorescence, calyx and capsule densely stellate- 

 pubescent or tomentose. Leaves chartaceous, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 1-6 

 cm. long, obtuse or acute at the apex, rounded, truncate or cordate at the base, 

 crenate or serrate, the petioles shorter than the blades; peduncles at the axils 

 of upper leaves or terminal, few-several-flowered ; calyx-lobes lanceolate ; petals 

 blue, violet or purple, obovate, 10-12 mm. long; capsule-body 6-8 mm. long, 

 subulate-beaked, its angles rounded, knobbed. 



White-lands, scrub-lands and coppices, Abaco, Andros, Mangrove Cay. New Provi- 

 dence, Eleuthera, Little San Salvador, Cat Island, Watling's, Atwood Cay, Rum Cay, 



