252 MR HIERN, ON EBENACE^E. 



coriaceous, or thickly membranous, somewhat or scarcely contracted and sometimes oblique at 

 base, rounded obtuse or emarginate at apex, with about 8 lateral veins on each side at about 

 50 60 with midrib, alternate, 2 4 in. long by 1 8J in. wide ; angular divergence f ; net-veins 

 pellucid in Gardner's specimen, not so in Martin's nor in Pohl's ; bluish green above, browner 

 beneath ; hairs ferruginous ; petioles ^ ^ in. long, somewhat decurrent, leaving large scars 

 on the branch ; bracts transversely oblong, glabrous inside. 



<J . Inflorescence in axillary, tawny-pubescent, usually 3-flowered drooping cymes -^ J in. 

 long. Flowers J in. long, green. Calyx f in. high with (3 or) 4 lobes, tawny-hairy outside ; lobes 

 ovate or lanceolate, ciliated, almost as deep as the calyx, erect-patent. Corolla glabrous, or with 

 hairy lines on back, with 4 6 very deep oblong lobes much imbricated in the bud, erect-patent. 

 Stamens 18 24, many or all united by their filaments in pairs, J in. long, nearly equal, 

 inserted at very base of corolla (hairy either on the anthers or filaments), contiguous ; filaments 

 short and with spreading hairs (not so in Gardner's specimen), anthers linear-oblong, glabrous 

 (pilose at base in Gardner's specimen), fin. long; pollen widely ellipsoidal. Ovary rudimentary, 

 fulvo-sericeous, hemispherical, small ; style 0. 



? . Inflorescence and outside of calyx fulvo-sericeous. Flowers axillary, solitary or 2 4 

 together ; peduncles ^ in. long, thick, solitary or 2 together, articulated to the branches. 

 Calyx in. high, with 4 ovate-acute lobes. Corolla tubular, 4-fid, twice the height of the calyx, 

 white, glabrous. Staminodes 4, inserted at the base of the corolla and alternate with its lobes, 

 filiform, included, with rigid hairs at base, glabrous above. Ovary ovoid-conical, covered with 

 shining erect hairs, continuous with 4 linear oblong truncate- obtuse stigmas, "apparently 4- 

 celled" with 1 ovule in each cell. 



A fruit, collected by Gardner from Brazil, where it is called Marmaleiro, and is said to be 

 good to eat, probably belongs to this species ; it is subglobose, rugose in the dry state, and nearly 

 glabrous, but pointed and tawny-pubescent at apex, f in. thick ; the calyx is spreading, slightly 

 pubescent, with 4 deep ovate-oblong lobes, about in. across. 



Brazil, Serra de Araripe, Gardner/ 1511 (<J fl. October) ; in hot dry places near the river 

 S. Francis in prov. Minas, e.g. near Salgado and in the desert towards Vao do Paranan, ? flowers 

 in August and September, Martius! ; near Oliveira, Pohl! 455. 



138. DIOSPYROS PEARCEI, sp. nov. 



H. foliis alternis, ovato-ollongis, apice acuminatis, basi obtusis vel rotundatis, tenuiter coriaceis, 

 subtus appresse pubescentibus, petiolatis ; fioribus masculis aggregatis, subsessilibus, scepius penta- 

 meris, calyce campanulato, extus pubescente, 5-fido, lobis deltoideo-acutis, corolld subrotatd, lobis 

 patentibus, staminibus circiter 30, receptaculo insertis, antheris linearibus, pilosis, filamentis 

 brevibus basi connatis. 



Young parts densely tawny-pubescent; an evergreen (?) tree, 15ft. high. Leaves ovate- 

 oblong, rounded or slightly narrowed at base, alternate, acuminate at apex, thinly coriaceous, 

 dark green and glabrous above except the depressed midrib and veins, with scattered appressed 

 pubescence beneath, 6 7|in. long by If 2f in. wide: petiole ^ in. long, pubescent. 



<5. Flowers very numerous and crowded, subsessile, Jin. long, conical in bud, white, 

 pentamerous or occasionally hexamerous. Calyx campanulate, fin. long, pubescent, 5-fid; lobes 



