J XLVII. MYESINEiE. 283 



wise on one side. Seeds with few exceptions albuminous, often with 

 more than one emhryo.— Eoyle 111. 264 ; Wight 111. ii. 137. 



Calyx-tube aduate to tte ovarj' 1. M^SA. 



Calyx free ; petals free to the base 2. Embelia.- 



Calyx free ; petals united in a short tube, with a deeply-lobed limb. 

 Corolla without appendages ; anthers longer than short filaments. 



Flowers in dense axillary clusters 3. MynsiNE. 



Flowers umbellate, corymbose, or paniculate . . . .4. Abdisia. 

 Corolla with appendages ; filaments long ; flowers in axillary 



clusters 5. Eeptonia. 



1. MJESA, Porskal. 



Flowers in simple or compound racemes with small bracts and two 

 bracteoles under each flower. Calyx-tube adherent, Hmb 5-lobed, corolla 

 5-lobed. Stamens 5, filaments slender, anthers short. Ovary inferior or 

 half-superior. Ovules numerous, more or less embedded in a fleshy pla- 

 centa. Style short. Berry crowned by the persistent calyx-lobes, many- 

 seeded. 



Glabrous, racemes much longer than petiole . . . 1. M. 

 Pubescent, racemes as long as petiole . . . . 2. if. argentea. 



1. M. indica, A. DC. ; Wight Ic. t. 1206. — Syn. Bcedbotrys indica, 

 Eoxb. Fl. Ind. i. 557. Vern. Kalm, Kamaon ; AtM, Bomb. 



A large shrub, sometimes with a tendency to climb ; glabrous, inflor- 

 escence only slightly pubescent. Leaves elliptic-oblong ovate-oblong or 

 lanceolate, 3-6 in. long, on petiole |-in. long, membranous, dentate, with 

 large distant teeth, edge revolute. Flowers white, mostly unisexual, on 

 slender pedicels, as long as flowers, in compound, nearly sessile, axillary 

 racemes, the racemes of male flowers 1-2 in. long, longer than those of the 

 female flowers ; bracts shorter than pedicel. Calyx-lobes obtuse, slightly 

 ciUate or pubescent. Anthers broad, nearly rotundate. Berry globose, 

 white, ^ in. across. This and other species of Msesa are liable to a pecu- 

 liar monstrosity, the flowers being replaced by dense spilcelets of closely 

 imbricated bracts, which transform the racemes into dpnse sterile panicles. 



A common shrub in South India, Burma, and Bengal. In the sub-Himalayan 

 tract west to the Ganges, ascending to 5000 ft. Also in Ceylon, China, the 

 Indian Archipelago. The specimens from N.W. India certainly belong to M. 

 indica ; whether, M. montana, A, DC, is a distinct species, I do not venture to 

 decide. Fl. at different times, chiefly April-Oct. ; the berries ripen m the 

 course of three months, and are eaten iu Nepal. In Canara the leaves are used 

 to poison fish. 



2. M. argentea, Wall. Fl, Ind., ed Carey, ii. 233. — ^Vern. Phusera, 

 gogsa, K.W.P. 



A large shrub, 6-8 ft. highj branches subscandent, clothed with soft 

 and dense pubescence. Leaves eUiptio, 6-10 in. long, dentate with sharp 

 teeth, slightly pubescent above, white or grey-tomentose beneath, acu- 

 minate, on petiole 1 in. long. Flowers white, on short pedicels, in short 

 compact axillary racemes as long as petiolcj with a few short branches 



