SAPINDACE.E. 



361 



the flowers with four or five parts of Schmidclia or Pancovia ; but 

 the indehisceut fleshy fruit, coriaceous fir Moody, spherical or tri- 

 agonal, has thi-ee cells, covered inwardly with haii's and each contaiu- 

 ing a seed of Pancovia. In Diploijlottk., a beautiful Australian tree 



Diplofflottis Cuniiiiig/mmi, 



Fig. 380. Flower with the perianth removed. Fig. 381. Dehiscing fruit. 



with pinnate leaves, the pentamerous flowers (fig. 378-380) are con- 

 structed very nearly like those of l^ancovia, but the fi-uit (fig. 3Sl) 

 is a loculicidal capsule whose seeds, solitary in each cell, are totally 

 enveloped by a large fleshy aril, coloured and sapid, like that of 

 Euphoria. 



The Paullinia, have also flowers irregulav or tetramerous, like those 

 of Schmiddia, or more commonly pentamerous, like those of Pancovia 

 and Dijilofflotfis, but the fruit is a piiiform septicidal capsule, con- 

 taining one to three seeds (fig. 382, 383), the embryo is thick and 

 fleshy, and the testa, glossy and 



of dark colour, is fm-nished, at Pauinnia .-onhui.. 



its base only, with a short cupu- 

 lar-shaped aril. All the species 

 of PauUinia are American and 

 nearly eighty in number, but 

 one or two species are met with 

 in tropical Asia -• and Africa 

 (where they have perhaps been iutroduced). 

 climbing plants, with alternate leaves, compound or decomposite, 

 pinnate or digitate, leaves often dentate, flowers arranged in axillary 

 clusters of cymes usually provided with two tendrils below. The 

 Caatanellas, also bindweeds of tropical America, difter very little 

 from the Paul/i/i/as with pentamerous flowers (witli which perhaps 

 they will soon be united) ; they have trifoliate leaves and a capsular 

 fruit, at fii-st slightly flt'shy, all bristling with rigid prickles. Valcn- 

 stielia is a non-climbing shnib from Chili, with the irregular 4-5- 



VOL. V. •> A 



Fig. 382. Seed. 



Fif, iSS. Lon<;itudiaal 

 section of seed. 



They are volubile, 



