146 XXIII. STEECULIACE^. [Ahroma. 



eonnivent. Capsule membranous, truncate, 5-angled, the angles winged and 

 produced at the top into as many horn-Uke points, opening at the top loculicidally 

 and aepticidally. Seeds several, albuminous ; embryo straight, with flat cotyle- 

 dons. — Tall shrubs or small trees, with stellate pubescence. Leaves entire or 

 palmately lobed. Peduncles leaf-opposed or terminal, few-flowered. Dissepiments 

 of the capsule fringed at the inner edge with long hairs. 

 A genus of two or three species from tropical Asia, one of them the same as the Australian one. 



1. A. fastuosa (disdainful), li. Br.; DC. Prod. i. 485; Benth. Fl. Austr.. 

 i. 286. A tall shrub, the branches softly pubescent, and bearing a few minute 

 conical prickles. Leaves shortly petiolate, obliquely cordate-ovate, acuminate, 4 to 

 6in. long, undivided, slightly sinuate-toothed, nearly glabrous above, softly 

 pubescent underneath. Peduncles very much shorter than the leaves, bearing a 

 cluster of 3 to 5 shortly pedicellate flowers, one only usually fertile. Bracts 

 linear, deciduous. Sepals narrow-lanceolate, about ^in. long. Petals rather 

 exceeding them, the broadly ovate lamina supported above the concave base by a 

 filiform stipes. Capsule hirsute with a few rigid hairs, or at length glabrous, 

 Ifin. long, the wings of the angles nearly ^in. broad, besides the long incurved 

 points of their upper angle. Seeds 10 to 12 in each cell. — Gasrtn. Pr. i. t. 64 ; 

 Salisb. Parad. Lond. t. 102. 



Hab.; Tropical parts of the colony. 



The species is widely distributed over the Eastern Archipelago. 



This plant yields excellent strong fibre. 



11. RULINGIA, R. Br. 



(After J. P. Ruling.) 



(Achilleopsis, Turcz.) 



Calyx 5-lobed. Petals 5, broad and concave or convolute at the base, with a 

 small, broad, or linear ligula at the top. Stamens shortly or scarcely connate at 

 the base, 5 without anthers (staminodia), linear-lanceolate and petal-like, alternate 

 with the petals and eonnivent or spreading ; 5 short, opposite the petals, and 

 perfect, the anther-cells parallel. Ovary sessile, S-celled with 2 or rarely 3 ovules 

 in each cell, styles connate, at least at the top, or rarely quite free. Capsule 

 tomentose or beset with prickles or soft setffi, opening loculicidally in valves, or 

 the carpels separating. Seeds 1 or 2 in each cell or carpel, ascending, usually 

 strophiolate. Albumen fleshy; cotyledons flat. — Shrubs or undershrubs, with 

 stellate tomentum or hairs. Leaves entire, toothed, or lobed. Stipules narrow, 

 deciduous, the upper ones often laciniate. Flowers mostly white, small, in leaf- 

 opposed or terminal, rarely axillary cymes. Petals shorter than the calyx. 

 Strophiola of the seeds small, variable in shape in the same species. 



The genus is confined to Australia, with the exception of one Madagascar species. — Benth. 

 A. Leaves of the jlowering branches or their lobes lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, mostly above 1 

 and often 2 or 3in. long, entire or sen-ate, not undulate, crenate or crisped. Capsule loculicidal. 



Leaves or their lobes quite entire, softly hoary-tomentose ]. R. salvifolia. 



Leaves or their lobes serrate, velvety or hirsute, at least underneath. 



Capsule scarcely dehiscent, nearly glabrous, with rigid prickly setse ... 2. R. pannosa. 



Capsule dehiscent, tomentose with soft pubescent setse ... . . . d. R. rngosa. 



1. B>. salvifolia (Sage-leaved), Benth. FL Austr. i. 238. An apparently 

 erect shrub, clothed with a soft but dense and close whitish tomentum. Leaves 

 on very short .petioles, lanceolate or lanceolate-linear, S to 4in. long, entire or 

 deeply divided into 3 lanceolate lobes, the middle one the longest, all quite entire 

 and softly tomentose on both sides, especially underneath. Cymes pedunculate, 



