348 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



ventral angle. It is surmounted by a style with as many linear 

 branches, stigmatiferous inside. The fruit is a capsule, with the re- 

 ceptacle surrounding its base ; it divides above into several one-seeded 

 stones which open ventraily. The slender scabrous branches of this 

 plant are covered with opposite simple oval dentate leaves, petiolate, 

 three-ribbed at the base, and exstipulate. The flowers are grouped 

 in little terminal racemes. 1 



Pterostemon mexicanus? formerly classed with doubt among Rosacea, 3 

 must now, as we have since discovered, 4 be regarded as allied to 

 Deutzia and Jamesia, at the same time presenting points of strong 

 resemblance with Escattonia. Its leaves are indeed alternate ; but 

 they possess very small stipules, and it has ten stamens ; but the 

 alternipetalous alone have a flattened trifid filament, with the 

 anther on the middle tooth ; the five others are reduced to sterile 

 tongues. The capsular fruit dehisces as in Philadelphus, and con- 

 tains wingless seeds, whose axile embryo is surrounded by fleshy 

 albumen. The only known species has its flowers in corymbiform 

 cymes, like those of the Service-trees, and sometimes reduced to 

 very few flowers. 



VIII. ESCALLONIA SEEIES. 



Escallonicc' (figs. 405-408) has regular hermaphrodite flowers. In 

 its saccate receptacle is embedded the ovary, crowned with an 

 epigynous disk traversed by the base of the style. On the rim of 

 the receptacle are inserted five sepals, free or united below, valvate 

 or cjuincuncial in the bud. The corolla is formed of five alternate 

 petals, free, but so applied to one another below as to form a sort of 

 tube, and imbricated or rarely twisted in praifloration. The five 

 stamens, alternate with the petals, are inserted like them outside 



1 This plant appears to represent a Deciimaria 

 of reduced type, with its ovary-cells containing 

 but a single ovule. 



? SchauER, in Linncea, xx. 736. 



3 See above, i. 389, 461, n. 36. 



4 In Adansonia, ix. 245. 



5 L. Fit., Suppl., 21. — J., Gen., 321.— 

 G.3EBTN., Fruct., iii. 16, 182. — Lamk., Diet., ii. 

 394; Suppl., v. 246; III., t. 143.— DC, Prodr., 



iv. 2. — Spach, Suit, a Buffon, v. 29. — Endl. 

 Gen., n. 4674. — Payer, Organog., 385, t. 89. — 

 H. Bn., in Adansonia, v. 283; vi. 9. — B. H., 

 Gen., 644, n. 36. — Lem. & Decne., Tr. Gen., 

 263.— Stereoxylon R. & Pay., Prodr., 38, t. 6 ; 

 FL Per. et Chil., t. 234, 238.— Mollia Gmel., 

 Syst., 303 (nee Mart. & Zucc). — Vigiera 

 Velloz, Fl. Flum., ii. t. 73, 74. 



