145 CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA 



less wavy on the margin, thick, with a few hairs on the edge, dark 

 green and nearly smooth above, paler, somewhat pubescent and 

 with prominent veins beneath. Flowers small, sessile, about 

 10 20 together, in a dense head supported on a cylindrical, pubes- 

 cent, purplish, axillary but apparently terminal peduncle, at first 

 erect, afterwards bent downwards, and surrounded by an involucre 

 of four ovate, entire, downy, unequal bracts ; a small acute 

 pubescent bract accompanies each flower.' Calyx adherent, downy, 

 the limb free, of 5 short, triangular-ovate, acute, irregularly 

 toothed segments. Corolla funnel-shaped, hairy outside, white, 

 tube much longer than the calyx- segments, slightly hairy within, 

 limb shallowly cut into 5 ovate, pointed, spreading or somewhat 

 reflexed lobes. Stamens 5, inserted at about the middle of the 

 tube, filaments either very short so that the anthers are included 

 in the tube of the corolla, or elongated so as to bring them up to 

 its mouth, anthers 2 -celled, linear-oblong. Ovary inferior, with 

 a fleshy epigynous disk on the top, 2-celled, with a single erect 

 ovule in each cell, style either short (to about the middle of the 

 corolla tube) or long (exserted considerably beyond its mouth), 

 stigma 2-lobed, papillose. Fruit several in a small cluster at the 

 end of the reflexed peduncle, fleshy, smooth, shining, deep purple- 

 violet, about i inch long or a little more, broadly ovoid, 

 somewhat tapering or flattened at the top, where it is marked by 

 the scars of the calyx-lobes, pulp whitish, pasty, enclosing 2 

 hard, stony pyrenes, convex on the outer surface, flattened on the 

 inner, which is grooved from top to bottom. Seed solitary in 

 each pyrene, and similar to it in form, testa membranous, embryo 

 small, straight, at the base of the abundant horny endosperm. 



Habitat. This grows in abundance under the shade of trees in 

 the hot moist forests of many parts of the vast empire of Brazil, 

 occurring in clumps of numerous plants together. It has also 

 been found in New Granada and probably in Bolivia. It was 

 cultivated in this country at Edinburgh before 1832, and flowered 

 at Glasgow in 1843. 



The Ipecacuanha is a somwhat variable plant, differing in general 

 habit, in the form and texture of the leaves, and the amount of 



