XL. SAPINDACEiE. 319 



16. DISTICHOSTEMON, F. v. M. 



(RelerriDg to two series of stamens.) 



Characters of Ihdonaa except that the sepals vary from 5 to 8, and the 



stamens are indefinite, usually above 20, closely packed in 2 or more series. — 



Pubescent shrub. Leaves simple. Inflorescence more nearly an interrupted 



spike than in any Dodonais. 



The genus is limited to a single species, endemic in Australia, scarcely sufficiently distinct 

 from Bodonceas. 



1. ID. phyllopterus (referring to the erect wings of the capsule), F. v. M. 

 in Hook. Kew Journ. ix. 306 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 487, and Fragm. ix. 89. A tall 

 shrub, softly tomentose -pubescent or villous in all its parts. Leaves very shortly 

 petiolate, oblong or rarely obovate, very obtuse, 1 to Sin. long, entire, seft and 

 velvety on both sides (or the leaves sometimes crenate-dentate and nearly smooth, 

 F. V. M. Fragm. ix. 89), the veins prominent underneath. Flowers nearly 

 sessile, in terminal leafless interrupted spikes or racemes of 1 to 3in., rarely 

 branching into oblong panicles. Sepals most frequently 6, but in some specimens 

 almost all 5. Stamens although usually above 20, yet occasionally only 12 to 

 15, and often above 80 ; anthers oblong-linear, crowded, with very short 

 filaments as in Dodoncea. Styles occasionally elongated as in some Dodonaas. 

 Capsule more or less tomentose, obovoid-triquetrous, the angles more or less 

 produced into herbaceous erect wings, usually ovate, very obtuse, and only on 

 the upper outer half of the carpels, but occasionally, especially in the Banksian 

 specimens, not so broad, and continued almost to the base. Seeds very shining, 

 usually 2 in each cell. — Dodonaa hispidula, Endl. Atakt. t. 30. 



Hab.: Cape Biver, Bowman; Eookingham Bay, J. Ballachy ; Somerset (where on the sandy 

 wet land there is a short dense growth of it down to the water's edge) ; islands of the Gulf of 

 Carpentaria, R. Brown, Henne. 



Obder XLI. ANACARDIACEJE. 



Flowers unisexual, polygamous or hermaphrodite, usually regular. Calyx of 3 

 to 5 lobes or distinct sepals. Petals 3 to 7, rarely none. Disk usually annular 

 or broad. Stamens of the same number or twice as many as petals, very rarely 

 indefinite, inserted round the disk or rarely upon it ; filaments free ; anthers 

 versatile. Ovary superior, usually 1 -celled, with 1 to 3 styles, or in the Spondiea 

 2-celled, or very rarely of 2 or more distinct carpels, or in male flowers reduced to 

 4 or 5 rudimentary style-like carpels. Ovules solitary in the ovary or in each 

 of its cells, pendulous or broadly adnate to the side of the cavity, or suspended 

 from a free funicle erect from the base of the cavity, with a dorsal raphe and 

 inferior micropyle ; very rarely in genera not- Australian erect, with a ventral 

 raphe and inferior micropyle. Fruit superior or rarely half inferior, free or 

 adnate at the base to the enlarged calyx-tube or disk, 1 -celled or (in Spondiea) 

 several-celled, usually drupaceous and indehiscent. Seed erect, horizontal or 

 pendulous ; albumen none or very thin. Embryo straight or incurved, cotyledons 

 usually fleshy; radicle short, inferior or more frequently turned upwards or 

 superior. — Trees or shrubs, the bark often exuding a caustic, balsamic or gummy 

 juice. Leaves alternate or very rarely opposite, without real stipules, simple or 

 ternately or pinnately compound, usually without glandular dots. Inflorescence 

 various, usually paniculate, with small flowers. Flesh of the drupes usually 

 oily or full of caustic juice. 



The Order is abundantly distributed over the tropical regions of the New and the Old World, 

 inore rare in terhperate climates. Of the 7 Australian genera, one is common to the New £(nd 

 the Old World, three are Asiatic, and the other three are endemic. 



