484 Cf. King — Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula [No. 3, 



The characters of the genus Melanorrhcea, as defined by Wallich 

 its founder, were modified, as regards the number of stamens, bi 

 Joseph Hooker in the Flora of British India, in order to admit the 

 pentamerous species M. Maingayi and M. WalUchii. 1 have ventured 

 still further to modify them in two points, viz., the calyptrate nature of 

 the calyx, and the accrescence and persistence of petals as wings in the 

 fruit. In the species which I have here named M. torquata, the calyx, 

 instead of slipping off over the apex of the flower a.g a calyptra, drops 

 downwards and forms a loose collar hanging round the pedicel. And. in 

 the two species which I have named M. aplera and M. inappendiculaUt, 

 the petals are deciduous and do not persist as wings to the fiuit. But, 

 even after these modifications, there remain a sufficient number of 

 characters by which Melanorrhcea may be distinguished from its nearest 

 ally Sivintonia. 



1. Melanorrhcea Maingayi, Hook. fil. PI. Br. Iud. II. 25. A tree 

 80 to 100 feet high : the .young branches rather slender, their bark 

 when dry pale brown, at first puberulous afterwards glabrous. Leaves 

 coriaceous, broadly elliptic, the apices rounded or obtuse, the base very 

 slightly cuneate, the edges sub-undulate ; both surfaces reticulate, 

 shining, the upper glabrous, the lower with a few very minute 

 hairs and many dots; main nerves 12 to 16 pairs, sub-horizontal, pro- 

 minent on both surfaces but especially on the lower : length 3 - 5 to 6 

 in., breadth 2 to 3 in. ; petiole 1 to P25 in. Panicles terminal and 

 axillary, slender, two or three times as long as the leaves, tawny-pnbes- 

 cent especially towai*ds the extremities, their branches few and sub-erect, 

 the ultimate branchlets few-flowered. Flowers "5 in. in diam., on slender 

 pedicels ; buds elliptic, acute, pubescent. Petals lanceolate, pubescenf. 

 Stamens 5 ; the filaments slender, pubescent above the middle. Disc 

 elevated. Ovary tomentose. Fruit oblong, obtuse, about "5 in. long, 

 glabrescent ; the enlarged petals at its base coriaceous, veined, linear- 

 oblong, the gynophore very short. Engler in DC. Mon. Phan. IV, 235. 



Malacca : Maingay, Nos. 482 ; 485 ; Derry. Perak : Scortechini, 

 No. 1719 : King's Collector, No. 77S8. Singapore : Ridley, No. -4780. 



2 Melanorrhcea Wallichii, Hook. fil. PI. Br. Iud. I, 25. A 

 very large tree ; the young branches slender, glabrous. Leaves coria- 

 ceous, obovate-elliptio, the apex obtuse or rounded, the base slightly 

 cuneate and somewhat oblique ; both surfaces glabrous and shining, 

 the lower reticulate, the upper obscurely so : main nerves 10 or 12 

 pairs, sub-horizontal, not very prominent ; length 35 to 8 in., breadth 

 2 to 4 in. ; petiole "75 to 1*5 in., slightly winged, and somewhat dilated 

 at the base, puberulous. Panicles numerous, axillary and terminal, 

 branched from the base, about 32 in. long, the branches with slender 



