ACANTHACF^E 365 



marginal line running to the apex of the leaf, light green above, 

 paler beneath or subglaucous, pubescent on the nerves on both sur- 

 faces, with variously curved or bent hairs ; petioles semiterete, 

 slightly channelled above, rather slender, tapering somewhat 

 upwards, densely covered with similar hairs. 



First pair elliptic-ovate, obtuse, unequal in length, suddenly 

 tapered at the base into the petiole. 



The seedling of P. bicalyculata, Nees, very closely resembles the 

 above, but has slightly broader cotyledons. 



SELAGINE.E. 



Benth. et Hook. Gen. PI. ii. 1126. 



Fruit and Seed. The pistil is superior, consisting of two 

 carpels which unite to form a two-celled ovary, or the latter 

 by abortion becomes obliquely one-celled while the plant is 

 yet in flower. The ovules are solitary in each cell, suspended 

 from the apex by a shortly filiform funicle, and anatropous. 

 The fruit is small, indehiscent, included in the calyx, and two- 

 celled, or breaks up into two cocci, or by the abortion of one 

 of the original carpels it consists of only one coccus. The 

 exocarp is thin and fleshy, or crustaceous, or hardened, rarely 

 membranous. The sides of the seed-bearing cells are some- 

 times furnished internally with a layer of corky matter, or two 

 small hollows ; or the fruit between the cocci is furrowed. 

 The seed is pendulous and solitary from the apex of each coccus 

 and is oblong or terete, with a membranous testa. A fleshy 

 endosperm is present. The embryo is axial, straight, and 

 terete, with the cotyledons slightly broader than the superior 

 radicle. 



The fruit of Hebenstretia varies in width in different species, 

 and is also affected in this respect according as one or both 

 carpels mature. The seed is oblong-cylindrical, conforming 

 to the interior of the cavities, and the shape seems to determine 

 the narrowness of the cotyledons on germination. 



Seedlings. A number of the Hebenstretias are notable for 



