314 XL. SAPINDACEiE. [Dodonm. 



The species is abundantly distributed over tropical America, Africa, and Asia, extending to the 

 Pacific Islands, and southward, beyond the tropics, to S. Africa and New Zealand. It includes 

 probably the whole of the extra- Australian described DodOB^as, except, perhaps, the D. eriocarpa 

 from the Sandwich Islands, D. Thunbergiana, Eckl. and Zeyh., from S. Africa, and one or two 

 Mexican ones, which, whether varieties or species, do not occur in Australia. The almost 

 protean forms the species assumes in Australia, even after deducting D. attenuata, D. cuneata, 

 and D. megazyga, which F. v. Mueller unites with it, are very difficult to distribute into definite 

 varieties, although at least the three following are usually considered as species. — Beiith. 



a. vulgaris. Usually tall- Leaves large, obovate-oblong, broadly lanceolate or lanceolate, 

 acuminate or rarely obtuse, the pinnate veins usually numerous and prominent. Capsules large, 

 with rather broad wings, much rounded above and at the base, the terminal sinus (between 2 

 opposite wings) narrow, each carpel, including its wing, longer than broad. — D. viscosa, Linn., 

 and D. Burmanniana, D.C.; Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 127, with the synonyms adduced; A. Gray, 

 Gen. III. t. 182 ; Wight, lUustr. t. 52. — The most common form in America and tropical Africa, 

 extending in Asia as far north as Scinde and Afghanistan, also in the Pacific Islands ; and to 

 this form belong inost of the tropical Australian species as well as, some from Hastings Elver, 

 Beckler. Some specimens from Endeavour River, both in the , Banksian and in Cunningham's 

 collections, are remarkable for, their thick, obscurely veined leaves. — Benth. 



b. angustifolia. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, mostly long and acutely acuminate, much narrowed 

 at the base, the veins usually conspicuous. Capsules small, with very broad wings, leaving the 

 terminal sinus very open and sometimes narrowed at the base, each carpel, including its wing, 

 orbicular or rather broader than long, although much less so than in the Platyptera. - D. 

 angustifolia, Swartz ; Griseb. PI. Brit. W. Ind. 128, with the synonyms adduced ; Lam. lU. t. 

 304, n. 2, and consequently D. salicifolia, DC. Prod. i. 617, supposed to be from New Holland; 

 -D. neriifolia, A. Cunn. in A. Gray, Bot. Am. Expl. Bxped. i. 262. — This variety has nearly the 

 same range within the tropics as the large-fruited one, and occasionally is found to pass into it. 

 In Australia it includes many Queensland specimens, and is the common form ii) N. S. Wales 

 collections. It occurs also in W. Australia, but in Victoria, S. Australia, and Tasmania, as in 

 N. Zealand, it tends rather to pass into the spathulate-leaved form. .D. umbellata and D. Kingii, 

 G. Don, Gen. Syst. i. 674, from the characters given, belong probably to this variety. — Benth. 



u. spathttlata. Usually a more bushy and not so tall a shrub as the preceding varieties, often 

 very viscid. Leaves shorter (although much longer than in D. cuneata), obovate-oblong,, oblong- 

 cuneate, spathulate, oblanoeolate or broadly linear-ouneate, usually obtuse or sometimes 

 truncate, the lateral veins usually conspicuous, but in some thick-leaved specimens scarcely 

 more so than in D. cuneata. Capsules very variable, but generally intermediate between those 

 of the var. vulgaris and angustifolia, but nearer to the former. — D. spathulata, Sm. in Eees, 

 Cycl. xii.; DC. Prod. i. 616 ; D. conferta, G. Don, Gen. Syst. i. 674 ; viscosa, var. asplenifolia, 

 Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. i. 55. — This is the commonest, perhaps the only form, in Victoria, Tasmania, 

 and S. Australia, and I have seen N. S. Wales specimens from Port Jackson, and northward to 

 New England, Mount Mitchell, and Mount Alton. It is the prevalent form in New Zealand, and 

 some of the Sandwich Island specimens can be precisely matched in Australia. D. oblongifolia. 

 Link, as figured in Bot. Eeg. t. 1051, appears to represent rather a short-leaved form of this 

 variety than a long-leaved .D. cuneata. D. asplenifolia, Eudge, in Trans. Linn. Soc. xi. 297, t. 20, 

 DC. Prod. i. 617, judging from N. S. Wales specimens agreeing with the figure, although not 

 authentically named, is an apparently rare form with linear-cuneate, 3-toothed leaves, resembling 

 those of luxuriant drawn-up shoots of D. cuneata, but longer. — Benth. 



5. 3>. attenuata (attenuated), A. Cunn. in Field, N. S. Wales, 353 ; Benth. 

 Fl. Austr. i. 477. A viscid shrub, closely resembling the narrowest-leaved forms 

 of -D. viscosa on the one hand and almost passing into D. lobulata on the other. 

 Leaves linear or narrowly linear-cuneate, obtuse, often slightly sinuate-toothed, 

 rather thick and rigid, 1 -nerved, the lateral veins inconspicuous, If to 2^in. long 

 in the original form but sometimes longer. Flowers and ovate sepals of D. viscosa, 

 in short usually simple racemes. Capsule of D. viscosa, usually intermediate 

 between the extremes of the varieties a and b of that species. Seeds opaque. — 

 Bot. Mag. t. 2860 ; D. Preissiana, Miq. in PI. Preiss. i. 226 ; F. v. M. Fragm. i. 

 72. 



Hab.: Brookfield, Stanthorpe, Mitchell's Pinch, Leichhardt district. 



Var. linearis. Leaves long, narrow-linear, mostly acute, rigid, the margins often recurved. 

 Capsule (only seen in few specimens) rather small, but with the terminal sinus between the wings 

 narrow. Hab.: N. S. Wales border, J. Ivory ; Wilson's Eiver, J. G. Weald. 



6. D. cuneata (cuneate), Rvdge, in Trans. Linn. Hoc. xi. 296, t. 19 ; Benth. 

 Fl. Austr. i. 477. A much-branched bushy shrub, glabrous, and usually viscid. 

 Leaves obovate or cuneate, usually \ to lin. long and rather broad, rarely narrow- 

 cuneate, attaining l^in., rounded, truncate, emarginate or 3-toothed at the end 



