144 G. King— Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Teninsnla. [No. 2, 



Malacca ; Pcrak. Distrib. Samatra. (Beccari, P. S. No. Q>io.) 

 21. Xanthophtllum insigne, a. W. Benn. in Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. 

 I, 211. A glabrous tree witb pale branchlets. Leaves drying brown, 

 coriaceous, elliptic, obtuse, the base sligbtly narrowed ; upper surface 

 shining; lower dull, pale, the 6-8 pairs of nerves and rather wide reticu- 

 lations prominent ; length 4'5 to 6"5 in., breadth 3 to 3'5 in. ; petiole stout, 

 "6 in. Racemes 3 to 4 in. long, axillary, sometimes terminal and panicled. 

 Flowers 'Q io '75 in. long; sepals unequal, sub-orbicular, puberulous. 

 Petals spathulate, glabrous except the pubescent claw ; keel adpressed- 

 sericeous, its claw pubescent. Stamens 8, the filaments flat at the base 

 and rising from an annular entire undulate disc which surrounds the 

 ovary. Ovary ovoid, ridged, glabrous, ovules 16 ; style little curved, 

 glabrous. Fruit globose, 3 in. in diam., minutely rugose, pericarp '5 in., 

 thick ; seeds oblong, 1 in. long, embedded in pulp. 

 Malacca ; Maingay, No. 348. Miller. 



Order XII. PORTULACEiE. 



Herbs, rarely undershrubs. Leaves opposite or alternate, entire ; 

 nodes with scarious or hairy appendages, rarely naked. Liflorescence 

 various. Sepals 2, imbricate. Petals 4-5, hypogynous or perigynous, 

 free (or united below), fugacious. Stamens 4<-cjd , inserted v^dth (rarely 

 upon) the petals, filaments slender; anthers 2-celled. Ovary free, or 

 ■^-inferior, 1 -celled ; style 2-8-fid, divisions stigmatose ; ovules 2-oo , on 

 basal funicles or a central column, amphitropal. Capsule with trans- 

 verse or 2-3-valvular dehiscence. Seeds 1- oo, compressed ; embryo 

 curved round a mealy albumen. Distrib. Cosmopolitan, chiefly Ameri- 

 can: genera 15, species about 125. 



1. PORTULACA, Linn. 



Diffuse, usually succulent, annual or perennial herbs. Leaves with 

 scaly or hairy nodal appendages. Flowers terminal, surrounded by a 

 whorl of leaves, solitary or clustered. Sepals connate below, the free 

 part deciduous. Petals 4-6, perigynous or epipetalous. Ovary ^-inferior ; 

 style 3-8-fid ; ovules oo. Capsule crustaceous, dehiscing transversely. 

 Seeds oo, reniform. Distrib. Tropical regions, chiefly American ; 

 one or two are cosmopolitan weeds extending to temperate regions ; 

 species 16. 



1. PoRTULACA OLERACEA, Linn. An annual glabrous, sub-succulent, 

 prostrate herb, 6 to 12 inches long ; sometimes with minute scarious 

 appendages at the nodes. Leaves flat, cuneate-oblong, rounded or 

 truncate at the apex, "25 to 1'25 in. long : petiole very short. Flowers in 

 few-flowci'cd terminal hcadi^i or in dichotomous cymes, sessile, surrounded 



