142 THALAMlFLOIl^i. 



thers 1 -celled, opening transversely at the apex, or 

 2- or even 4-celled. Ovary concealed by the tube, 

 distinct : style 1 : stigmata 1-3 : ovules erect. Fruit 

 either 3 samaroid carpels, or berried with from 1 to 3 

 cells. Seeds 4 or more in each cell, attached to the 

 axis in pairs, sometimes several of them abortive, 

 erect, exalbuminose. Embryo straight : radicle point- 

 ing towards the base: cotyledons flat, elliptico-ob- 

 long, somewhat fleshy, cohering when dry. 



Arborescent or climbing shrubs ; principally natives of South 

 America. The fruit of TONSELLA PYRIFORMIS, a native of 

 Sierra Leone, about the size of a Bergamot pear, is said to 

 have a rich sweet flavour, and to be eatable : and the nuts of 

 HIPPOCRATEA COMOSA, a native of St Domingo, are, according 

 to Swartz (Fl. Ind. Occ. I. 78.), sweet and oily. 



I. HIPPOCRATEA. 



Petals generally foveated at the apex. Stamens 3. 

 Anthers 1 -celled, transversely dehiscent. Carpels 3 

 (or by abortion 1-2) samaroid, bivalved, with the 

 valves keeled and very much compressed. Seeds 

 winged downwards, from the umbilical cord being 

 very much expanded. De Cand. 



Named, by Plumier, in honour of Hippocrates, the celebrated 

 Greek physician. 



1 . * Hippocratea ovata ? Ovate-leaved Hippocratea. 



Carpels ovate, panicles axillary subdichotornous, 

 leaves oblongo-ovate or elliptic serrated. De Cand. 



H. volubilis, Sivartz, Obs. 28 Robinson, in Lunan's Hort. 

 Jam. I. 373 H. paniculata, Roem. et Schultz, Mant. I. 396. 

 H. ovata, Lam. III. I. 100. t. 28. f. 2. 



HAB. Near Cabaritta River Robinson. Near the fording 



at Ginger-Hall Works, St Thomas in the East. 



FL. Spring. 



A scandent shrub : branches opposite, stiff, arched, patent, 

 Leaves opposite, subcoriaceous, glabrous. Racemes terminal ; 

 divisions opposite. Flowers small, greenish-white, subsessile. 

 Carpels an inch in length. 



1 regret having omitted examining this plant in a more par- 

 ticular manner. 



