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VI, On Sycopsis. By Daniel Oliver, Esq., F.L.S. 



Read March 15, 1860. 



Sycopsis. Genus novum Samamelidearum. 



Char. ess. Flores abortu uni-se.xuales [an etiam nonnunquam polygami?]. 



Fl. S . Calyx brevissimus, irregulariter v. oblique dentatus lobatusve. Corolla 0. Stamina 8, calycis 



tube inserta ; filamenta brevia, in connectivum continua ; antherae basifixae, biloculares, oblongse, 



apice breviter productae. Gyncecium rudimentum bifidum. 

 Fl. ? . Calyx semisuperus, tube ovarium arete cingente, limbo deciduo. Corolla 0. Ovarium bilo- 



culare; styli duo, distinct!, subulati, intus canalieulati, minute papilloso-stigmatosi ; ovula in loculis 



solitaria, pendula. 



S. Griffithiana, species imica. 



Frutex verisimiliter (v. arbor parva), ramosissimus. 



Hamuli cortice cinerascente, vix laevi, glabro v. ultimorum minute puberulo. Folia numerosa, alterna, minute 

 stipulata, petiolata, Integra, ovali-lanceolata, lanceolata v. obovato-lanceolata, acute acuminata, coriacea 

 (perennia?), discolora, glabra v. primilm pilis stellatis conspersa; costa (in spp. exsicc.) supra de- 

 pressa, subter valde prominente, venularum reti inconspicuo. Stipulce lanceolatae, minutae, cito 

 caducae. Inflorescentia axillaris, e glomerulis paucifloris vel racemis abbreviatis petiolum subae- 

 quantibus composita. Flores c? et ? intermixti (an semper?), primum sessiles v. subsessiles, ante 

 florescentiam in axillis bractearum nidulantes, omnes plus minusve pubescenti^ minuta stellata 

 obsiti. Calyx, 3 brevissimus, triangulari-dentatus v. oblique lobatus, in ? ad faucem, stylorum 

 basin arete cirigentem, squamis minutis pilosis instructus; limbi lobi denique curvi v. revoluti, cito 

 decidui. Stamina nonnunquam partim imperfecta ; fertilia (cum sterilibus minoribusque non alter- 

 nantia) filamentis brevibus, glabris, crassiusculis, calycem excedentibus, antheris (bilocularibus, 



dehiscentia ?) pro ratione magnis, ovato-oblongis, apice breviter et vix acute apiculatis ; stamina 



sterilia parva. Ovarium semi-inferum, stellato-pilosum, usque ad basin stylorum calycis tubo crasso 

 arct^ cinctum. Styli a basi distincti, divergentes, infra stellatim pilosi. 



Folia lamina 1| ad 3i poll, (saepius circa 2^ poll.), petiolo 2-5 lin. longis. 



Turtlaer information is needed as to (1) whether the flowers are ever really hermaphro- 

 dite, (2) if both <? and ? are alike protected singly in the axils of the early caducous 

 bracts or scales of the inflorescence (these bracts are mostly ovate or rotundate, the outer 

 one sometimes produced above), (3) the mode of dehiscence of the anthers, (1) the ripe 

 fruit. It is doubtful how far the lobation and degree of obliquity of the calyx-limb may 

 be constant ; I have therefore omitted, in the foregoing diagnosis, to describe the forms 

 observed in the comparatively few good flowers which I have had an opportunity of exa- 

 mining*. The young subobovate fruits, narrowed and (from drying ?) more or less sulcate 

 below, together with the general appearance of the plant, recall some of the narrower-leaved 



* It is probable that the limb of the calyx, both in <7 and 5 flowers, may be 4 -toothed or -lobate (? sometimes 

 5-lobate), — one or more lobes in the ? , being linear-lanceolate, subtriangular at the base. 



M 2 



