Olax.] XXII. OLACINE^. 75 



petals. Ovary free, l-fieUed or with 3 imperfect cells, each with 1 ovule. 

 Fruit drupaceous. Seed albuminous. 



1. 0. scandens, Eoxb. Corom. PI. t. 102; Fl. Ind. i. 163; W. & A. 

 Prodr. 89. 



A powerful cKmber, a few stout thorns on the older branches ; branch- 

 lets, petioles, and midrib pubescent. Leaves distichous, alternate, ovate- 

 oblong, shortly petiolate, 2-3 in. long. Flowers white, scentless, in short 

 axillary racemes. Drupe globose, 1-seeded, | lq. diam., yellow, fleshy, 

 more than half enclosed in the enlarged calyx. 

 ' South India, Ceylon, Burma, Behar, Satpura range, sub-Himalayan tract of 

 Kamaon. On wet ground near rivers and ravines. Most destructive to trees, 

 which it covers with its dense-spreading, dark-green foliage. Bark ash-grey. 

 Fl. cold season. , ., , , , j 



0. nana, WaU., is a small undershrub with subsessile lanceolate leaves and 

 sohtary axillary flowers on slender peduncles. N.W. India, ascending to 5000 ft. 



2. CANSJBRA, Juss. 



Climbing shrubs, with entire, alternate leaves, and small bisexual 

 flowers iu axUlary spikes. Calyx minute. CoroUa gamopetalous, 4-lobed. 

 Stamens 4, opposite to the petals, and somewhate adnateto them ; 4 hypo- 

 gynous scales, alternate with the stamens. Ovary fleshy, 1-ceUed, with 1 

 ovule. Fruit a drupe, with a crustaceous endocarp. Seed ovoid ; embryo 

 minute in the axis of a fleshy albumen. 



1. C. Rheedii, Gmelyi. ; Wight Ic. t. 1861. — Syn. C. scandens, Eoxb. 

 Cor. PI. t. 103 ; Fl. Ind. i. 441. 



A large evergreen climbing shrub, armed with a few stout scattered 

 spines ; young branches, inflorescence, and petioles minutely pubescent. 

 Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 1^-3 in. long, short - petioled, glabrous, thick 

 and somewhat fleshy, rugose when dry ; main lateral nerves 3-5 pair, ob- 

 liquely arching, the middle pair nearly meeting at the apex of leaf. 

 Flowers sessile, yeUow, in short axillary spikes. Corolla campanulate. 

 Fruit orange-red, ovoid, about ^ in. long. 



South India, western coast, Oudh forests (common in damp, well-wooded 

 places). FL Sept.-March ; fr. AprU. 



Order XXIIL ILICINE.ffi. 



Trees or shrubs, generally evergreen, with alternate, simple, petiolate, 

 glabrous leaves, exstipulate, or with minute, caducous stipules, and with 

 small white flowers. Calyx imbricate in bud, 3-6-cleft, persistent. Petals 

 4-5, free or connate at the base, deciduous, imbricate in bud. Stamens as 

 many as petals, alternating with them, hypogynous, free or adhering to 

 petals, filaments subulate ; anthers 2-ceIled, introrse, dehiscing longitudi- 

 nally. Disc 0. Ovary free, 3-5- (rarely more) -celled, with a short style or 

 sessile stigma. Ovules pendulous, 1 or 2 in each cell. Fruit a drupe, 

 with 3 or more 1-seeded, free or connate stones. Seed with a membra- 

 nous testa, fleshy albumen, and a minute straight embryo. — Gen. PI. i. 

 355; Eoyle lU. 166 (under Celastrineae) ; Wight 111. ii. 147. 



