350 A FLORA OP MANILA 



1. L, racemosa Willd. Solasi (Tag., in Paranaque and Maricaban). 



A shrub or a small tree, flowering when 1 m high or less. Leaves 

 fleshy, green, shining, narrowly obovate, 2.5 to 7 cm long, apex rounded, 

 retuse, gradually narrowed to the acute base, short-petioled. Racemes 

 axillary, 2 to 6 cm long. Calyx oblong-cylindric, green, 5 to 6 mm long, 

 the teeth short. Petals white, oblong, about 4 mm long. Stamens 10, 

 as long as the petals. Fruit green, oblong, about 1.5 cm long, crowned by 

 the persistent calyx-rim. (Fl. Filip. pi. 126.) 



Along tidal streams, Maricaban, Paraiiaque, etc., fl. Dec-Mar., here 

 2 m high or less; occasional in similar habitats in the Philippines. Trop- 

 ical shores of Africa and Asia, through Malaya to Australia and Polynesia. 



The one other species found in the Philippines, L. littorea (Jack) Voigt 

 (L. coecinea W. & A.), is distinguished by its terminal inflorescence, 

 crimson floWers, and its stamens about twice as long as its petals; it has 

 not been found in our area, but is much the commoner species of the two in 

 the Philippines. 



4. COMBRETUM Linnaeus 



Scandent shrubs or suberect with pendulous branches. Leaves opposite, 

 entire, petioled. Flowers usually in panicled spikes or racemes, polygamo- 

 dioecious, bracteoles small. Calyx-tube slender below, slightly contracted 

 above the ovary, then expanded and ovoid, funnel-shaped, or tubular, the 

 limb 4- or 5-toothed. Petals 4 or 5, inserted on the calyx-limb, small. 

 Stamens twice as many as the petals, inserted in 2 series. Ovary inferior, 

 1-celled; ovules 2 to 5. Fruit indehiscent, dry, 4- or 5-winged. (A Latin 

 name of uncertain application.) 



Species about 130, tropics generally, 4 in the Philippines. 



1. C. squamosum Roxb. 



A scandent shrub reaching a length of 5 m or more. Leaves opposite, 

 elliptic-ovate, glabrous on the upper surface, beneath covered with small 

 round scales, apex acute or shortly acuminate, base rounded, 8 to 16 cm 

 long. Inflorescence 6 to 15 cm long, axillary, of racemosely arranged scaly 

 spikes, the spikes 3 to 6 cm long. Flowers white, the calyx-tube slender 

 below, expanded above, the limb about 4 mm long, funnel-shaped. Petals 

 small. ' Fruit 2 to 2.5 cm long, broadly 4-winged. 



In thickets,. Masambong, fl. Dec- Jan.; widely distributed in the Philip- 

 pines. India to Malaya. 



103. MYRTACEAE ' (Myrtle or Duhat Family) 



Trees or shrubs with opposite, rarely alternate, simple, entire or toothed, 

 often pellucid-dotted leaves, exstipulate, or stipules very small and decid- 

 uous. Flowers regular, perfect, solitary, or in spikes, corymbs, or heads. 

 Calyx 4- or 5-toothed or lobed, the limb persistent or deciduous. Petals 

 free, or sometimes united into a disk-like operculum, alternating with the 

 calyx-lobes, or rarely wanting. Stamens very many, rarely few, inserted on 

 the disk with the petals. Ovary inferior, 1- to many-celled; ovules num-' 

 erous; style simple. Fruit fleshy or capsular, indehiscent or dehiscent, 1- 

 to many-seeded. 



' For the Philippine species of this family see .Robinson, C. B., "A Prelim- 

 inary Revision of Philippine Myrtaceae." Philip. Journ. Sci. 4 (1909) 

 Bot. 331-407. ^ 



