PLUMBAGINACEAE 361 



1. AEGICERAS Gaertner 



Small, erect, glabrous trees. Leaves obovate, coriaceous, entire, the lat- 

 eral nerves obscure. Inflorescence a simple or compound, sessile, axillary 

 or terminal umbel. Flowers 5-merous, perfect, pedicelled. Calyx-lobes im- 

 bricate. Corolla-tube short, the lobes 5. Stamens 5, inserted on the tube. 

 Ovary oblong, narrowed into a slender style; ovules many. Fruit cylindric, 

 curved, pointed, coriaceous, 1-seeded, at length dehiscing longitudinally, the 

 seed similar in shape to the fruit, germinating within the pericarp. (Greek 

 "goat" and "horn" from the shape of the fruit.) 



Species 2, tropical seashores, India to Polynesia, both in the Philippines. 



1. A. corniculatum (L.) Blanco (A. majus Gaertn.) Tunduc-tunducan, 

 Pilapil (Tag.). 



An erect shrub 1.5 to 6 m high. Leaves obovate, rounded or retuse, 5 

 to 10 cm long. Flowers numerous, white, nearly 1 cm long, in simple 

 terminal umbels, their pedicels 1 to 2 cm long. Fruit cylindric, curved, 

 sharply pointed, 3 to 5 cm long, about 5 m in diameter, surrounded at the 

 base by the persistent calyx. (Fl. Filip. pi. 38.) 



Along tidal streams, Pasay, fl. Oct.-Mar. ; in similar habitats throughout 

 the Philippines. India to China, southward to Australia. 



The one other species of the genus, A. floridum R. & S., is not found in 

 our area and is less common in the Philippines than A. corniculatum; it 

 differs chiefly in having its flowers in a compound umbel. 



109. PLUMBAGINACEAE (Leadwort Family) 



Branched herbs or undershrubs with alternate, entire leaves, the flowers 

 in terminal, often elongated spikes, the bracts and bracteoles shorter than 

 the calyx. Flowers regular, perfect. Calyx inferior, tubular, ribbed, 

 covered with stalked glands, the limb 5-fid. Corolla white, blue, or red, 

 salver-shaped, the tube long, slender, the lobes spreading. Stamens 5, op- 

 posite the corolla-lobes, free. Ovary superior, 1-celled, the style slender, 

 with 5 branches; ovule one. Fruit a membranaceous capsule, circumsciss 

 near the base. 



Genera 10, species about 300, in all parts of the world, a single introduced 

 genus in the Philippines. 



1. PLUMBAGO Linnaeus 



Characters of the Family as given above. (Latin '"lead.") 



Species 10, of wide distribution, 3 in the Philippines, all introduced. 



Flowers blue; corolla-tube 3 to 3.5 cm long 1. P. auriculata 



Flowers white or nearly so; corolla-tube 2 cm long 2. P. zeylanica 



Flowers red; corolla-tube about 2. 5 cm long 3. P. rosea 



* 1. P. AURICULATA Lam. (P. capensis Thunb.). 



An erect, much branched, shrubby plant 1 m high or less. Leaves oblong- 

 obovate, 1.5 to 5 cm long, 0.8 to 2 cm wide, thin, obtuse, narrowed below. 

 Spikes terminal, about 10 cm long. Calyx greenish, 1 to 1.3 cm long, viscid- 

 glandular. Corolla pale-blue, the tube slender, 3 to 3.5 cm long, the limb 

 spreading, 3 cm in diameter. (Fl. Filip pi. Z7.) 



