Syndes?nis> pentandria monogy^ia. 81* 



1. S, elegans, Wall. 



Found by Mr. Porter on hills at Pinang in flower in the begin- 

 ning of the year. 



A small elegant tree. Branches irregularly and much sub divid- 

 ed very slightly angular, knobbed at the insertion of the petiols, with, 

 ash-coloured bark, perfectly smooth, as are all the other parts. — 

 Leaves scattered, approximate towards the top of the branches, lan- 

 ceolate, obtusely acuminate, tapering at both ends, leathery, shining, 

 reticulate underneath with an elevated rib, and numerous sub-opposite, 

 parallel nerves ; from three to five inches \ong.—Petiol rather slender, 

 round, nearly an inch long, slightly channelled, the base a little en- 

 larged, inserted on a corresponding protuberance of the branch. — 

 Stipules none. — Corymbs terminal, spreading, round-ovate, obtuse, 

 smaller than the terminal leaves, with alternate, sub-simple, coloured 

 branches, each bearing from five to nine racemose^ortfers. Pedicels 

 capillary, two or three lines long, each supported by a linear, cadu- 

 cous bracte. — Calyx spathaceous, membranous, scarlet-red, oblong, 

 cylindric, about six lines long, with four dark-coloured capillary, pa- 

 rallel nerves ; split on one side towards the apex, which is obtusely 

 bideutate, the teeth short, pubescent. — Corolla white, membranous, 

 four or iive-petalled, twice as long as the calyx ; petals linear-lanceo- 

 late, bluutish, spreading, slightly pubescent above, the inside of their 

 base uniting with that of the filaments and forming a columnar, fleshy 

 peduncle, on which rests the pistil, rising from the bottom of the calyx 

 and almost equalling it in length, somewhat angular on account of 

 the free, decuirent, narrow margins of the petals. — ^Estivation imbri- 

 cate. — Stamina four or five, as long as the corolla, spreading; fila~ 

 me /its slender, cuspidate, uniting at the base under the ovar) panthers 

 erect, oblong, with bifid base and longitudinal cells.— Ovary resting 

 on the apex of the pedicel formed by the petals and filaments, f lo- 

 bular, somewhat flattened, apiculate on one side for the insertion of 

 the style, hence oblique, one-celled, one-seeded: ovuluni erect. 

 Style filiform, lateral, ascendiug, at that spiral at the base, afterwards 



more stiaight, rather longer than the stamina, Stigma acute, simple*, 



Na2 



