300 



XLVII. SAXIFRAGACEiE 



[Ribes 



pedicel, lower pedicels longer than upper. Berries black, J in. cliam., very aromatic. 

 8. R. Griffitnii, Hook. f. & Thorns. Sikkim 10-13,000 ft. Bhutan. L. sharply serrrate, 

 pubescent on the nerves beneath, racemes lax, 3-6 in. long, pendent, bracts J-J in., linear, 

 longer than pedicels, berries red. 



Order XL VIII. HAMAMELIDACEjE. Gen. PI. i. 664. 



(Hamamelidece.) 



Trees or shrubs, 1. alternate, stipules usually deciduous, hairs mostly fascicu- 

 late or stellate. Fl. in compact heads or spikes, usually bracteate. Calyx- 

 tube more or less adnate to ovary, petals 4— oo, occasional!}' none. Ovary 

 2-celled, styles 2, usually persistent, ultimately divaricate. Capsule woody, 

 loculicidally dehiscent, often also imperfectly dehiscing septicidally. Seeds 1 

 in each cell, or numerous, in which case the lowest only is fertile. Testa 

 shining, embryo straight, cotyledons flat, albumen usually thin. (No species 

 in the Western Peninsula.) 



In 1836 Griffith discovered that the Indian Geneva of this Order are distinguished 

 by bordered pits on the walls of wood-fibres, resembling the bordered pits of Conifers 

 (Asiatic Researches xix. 95, 99, 102), and this is now recognized as an important character 

 of Hamamelidacece. These wood-fibres have thick walls and a small lumen. The 

 medullary rays are narrow (1 or 2 cells wide) the vessels small, and the wood paren- 

 chyma is of no importance. 



A. Ovules solitary in each cell. 



Petals 0.' 



Leaves deciduous, crenate, fl. bisexual in involu- 



crate heads . . . . . . . . 1. Parkotia. 



Leaves persistent, entire, fl. polygamous or unisexual. 



Ovary superior . Distylum (p. 301). 



Ovary half-inferior Stcopsis (p. 301). 



Petals 4 or 5. 



Leaves deciduous, serrate 2. Corylopsis. 



Leaves persistent, entire ...... Loeopetalum (p. 301). 



B. Ovules several in each cell. 



Leaves entire, sometimes 3-cuspidate at the apex, 



stipules large, coriaceous . . . . .3. Buckxandia. 

 Leaves serrate, stipules usually. deciduous . . 4. Altingia. 



1. PARROTIA, C. A. Meyer; Fl. Brit. 

 Ind. ii. 426. 



Fig. 128. 

 Parrotia Jacquemontiana, Dene." 



(Species 2, one on the south coast 

 of the Caspian Sea.) 



P. Jacquemontiana, Dene. ; Brandis 

 F. Fl. t. 28. Vera. Killar, Chamba ; Shtdr, 

 Kan. 



A large gregarious deciduous shrub or 

 small tree, stellate hairs on branchlets, 

 petioles, stipules, calyx and the underside 

 of leaves. L. orbicular or obovate, obtuse, 

 crenate, the lowest pair of sec. n. direct 

 from the base, stipules deciduous, oblong, 

 as long as petioles or longer. Fl. bisexual, 

 greenish-yellow, sessile, about 20 in an 

 ovoid head, which is supported by 4 large 

 round membranous bracts, white or pale 

 yellow. Calyx canrpanulate, adhering to 

 base of ovary, limb thick, woolly, trun- 

 cate, or with a few linear lobes, petals 0, 



