342 



LIII. LYTHEACEtE 



[Crypteronia 



escent, 1. opposite, 

 often fascicled on 

 arrested branchlets, 

 oblong-lanceolate or 

 oblanceolate, obtuse, 

 1-3 in. long, nar- 

 rowed into a slender 

 petiole. Ovary in- 

 ferior, free part of 

 calyx campannlate, 

 cleft into 5-7 valvate 

 lobes. Petals inserted 

 in the mouth of 

 calyx-tube, crumpled 

 in bud. Stamens co, 

 inserted at different 

 levels below the pe- 

 tals, anther-cells at- 

 tached to the edges 

 of a broad connective. 

 Carpels in several 

 tiers on the inside of 

 the hollow receptacle, 

 here called calyx- 

 tube (see remarks on 

 p. 306 under C'ombre- 

 tacece, and Brandis 

 F. Flora 240), ovules 

 numerous in each. 

 Carpels coalesce early 

 and form a large 

 globose indehiscent 

 fruit, crowned by the 

 persistent calyx and 

 containing under a 

 coriaceous rind two 

 tiers of cells, 3 in 

 the lower, 5-9 in the 



upper tier. Numerous seeds in each cell, embedded in a sweet pellucid pulp. Cotyle- 

 dons foliaceous, spirally convolute. 



Fig. 143. — Crypteronia paniculata, Elume. J. 



Order LIV. SAMYDACE^l. Gen PI. i. 794. 



Trees or shrubs, 1. alternate, distichous, stipules small. Fl. inconspicuous, 

 regular, generally bisexual. Calyx persistent, tube short, segments 3-7, imbri- 

 cate or valvate in bud. Petals none, or alternate with calyx-segments and 

 similar to them in substance. Ovary free or lower portion adnate to calyx- 

 tube, ovules numerous, attached to 2-4 parietal placentas. Capsule 2-4- 

 valved, seeds numerous, attached to the middle of the valves. Embryo in a 

 copious fleshy albumen. ■ 



The 2 genera here described are included under Fiacourtiaceai by Warburg in Engler 

 u. Prantl iii. 6a, p. 34, 50. 



Petals 0, fl. in axillary fascicles 1. Casuaria. 



Petals present, fl. in racemes or spikes . . . t .2. Homalium. 



1. CASEARIA, Jacq. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. 591. 



Trees or shrubs, 1. alternate, distichous, stipules small, caducous. Fl. small, 

 greenish-yellow, regular, usually bisexual. Calyx coriaceous, deeply 4-5-lobed, 

 lobes imbricate, more or less persistent. Petals 0. Stamens double the number 

 of calyx-lobes, often 8 only with a pentarnerous calyx, united into a short tube 



