connected with the Flora of Guiana. 229 



often above the middle, and then suddenly expanded ; the segments are always 

 in a single row, (though imbricate in aestivation,) nearly equal in size, and 5 

 in number in the species I have seen, 6, or perhaps more, in some described 

 by Bonpland, and the ovary 3- 4- or 5-celled. Of this group I have examined 

 S.martinicensis, h\r\n., S.Ciponima, S. Arechea,UYi€r., Stemmatosiphon jtlaty- 

 phyllum, nitens, and uniflorum, Pohl., Symplocos pubescens, Klotsch, and two 

 new species described below; and, judging from Bonpland's figures, I should 

 likewise refer to it his Symplocos serrulata and rufescens. 



As a second genus, or at any rate as a distinct section oi 'Symplocos, I 

 should propose to restore Linnseus's Alstonia, characterized by a more cam- 

 panulate corolla, with an inner row of small coroUine segments, which may 

 perhaps be considered as an outer row of sterile stamina. 1 have only seen 

 one species, the Alstonia thea;formis, Linn., and of that I could bnly dissect 

 one imperfect flower, in which the inner row of petals was very irregular, and 

 certainly took the place of some of the external stamina. I should associate 

 with it Bonpland's Symplocos cernua and coccinea, judging from the figures, 

 and perhaps also Symplocos tomentosa, Bonpl., and S. octopetala, Swartz. 

 But it would require a re-examination of all these species to determine the 

 importance of the inner row of petals as characterizing a section or a 

 genus. 



In the third very distinct genus, Hopea, Linn, (not Roxb.), the aspect of the 

 flower is very different ; the corolla is almost rotate, constantly uniseriate at 

 the base, though the divisions be imbricate, and 5- or 6-cleft ; the stamina are 

 also spreading, their filaments slender, but slightly connected at the base, often 

 somewhat pentadelphous, and usually longer than the corolla. I have also 

 never found more than three cells to the ovary, (in H. sinica and cratcegoides 

 there are but two,) and the species appear much more apt to dry yellow than 

 in the true Symplocos. I would refer to Hopea, so characterized, H. tinctoria, 

 Linn., and the greater number, if not all the Asiatic species. Amongst these 

 the S. sinica, Bot. Reg., and S. cratcegoides, Hamilt., should form a distinct 

 section, as proposed by Don, but characterized by the bilocular ovarium and 

 comparatively slender stigmata. There appears also to be a considerable di- 

 versity in the fruit, which is pear- or bottle-shaped, and very small in S. spi~ 

 cata, Roxb., S. polycarpa, Wall., and S. laurina. Wall., small, oblong, and 



VOL. XVIII. 2 H 



