240 Passifioracece. [Modecca. 



gynous, inserted at base of cal.-tube, distinct or connate ; fern. 

 fl.: — cal. and pet. as in male; staminodes 5, erect, surrounding 

 ov. ; ov. superior, stalked, 1 -celled, with 3 parietal placentas, 

 ovules numerous, stigmas 3, feathery or fringed ; fruit a cap- 

 sule, dehiscing loculicidally by 3 valves ; seeds several, en- 

 veloped in a pulpy aril, flattened, muriculate, embryo straight 

 in fleshy endosperm. 



Our single genus is not typical for the Order, belonging to the tribe 

 Modeccece. Both our species are low-country plants. 



MODECCA,* Lam. 



For characters, see Order. — Sp. about 25 ; 6 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Fl. small, \ in. long, stigmas sessile . . . . 1. M. WlGHTlANA.. 

 Fl. large, f in. long, styles long . . . . 2. M. palmata. 



1. BX. Wig-htiana, Wall, Cat. n. 6764 (1828). 



Thw. Enum. 128. C. P. 162 1. 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 601. Wight, Ic. t. 179. 



Small perennial herb, stems long, flexuose, wide-spreading, 

 very slender, glabrous ; 1. distant, few, readily disarticulating, 

 2-3 in., variable in form, cordate-ovate or triangular or more 

 or less 3-lobed, cordate at base, acute at apex, entire or faintly 

 dentate, glabrous, very thin, often minutely brown-dotted on 

 upper surface, petiole \-\ in., dilated at summit, where is a large 

 prominent gland ; fl. small, \ in., on slender articulated ped., 

 in two short opp. cymes near the end of a long slender axillary 

 curved peduncle, which is continued beyond as a much-coiled 

 circinate tendril ; cal.-tube campanulate-turbinate, segm. 

 about as long as tube, ovate, acute ; pet. rather shorter than 

 cal. -segm., ovate, inserted about middle of cal.-tube, disk 

 (corona), a ring of hair arising from cal.-tube just below pet; 

 male fl.: — stam. connate at base, anth. ovoid; fern, fl.: — ov.very 

 shortly stalked, surrounded by 5 erect staminodes, ovoid, 

 tapering, style o, stigmas fringed ; fruit very shortly stalked, 

 the stalk surrounded by persistent cal., about 1 -J in., not 

 pointed, valves chartaceous, smooth, brownish-yellow; seeds 

 about 8, \ in., surrounded by the aril, ovoid, compressed, 

 strongly muriculate on sides. 



Dry country; rather rare. Jaffna; Puttalam; Karativu; Trincomalie; 

 Kekirawa. Fl. Aug.-Nov. 

 Also in S. India. 



* Modecca is given as the Malabar name by Rheede, Hort. Mai. iv. 39. 



