ON SOUTH-AMEEICAN APOCTNACE^E. 243 



PoRSTERONiA (char. reformat.), Meyer, A. DC, et Miill. (in parte). Sepala 5, parva, obtusa vel acuta, 

 erecta. Corolla parva ; tubus brevissime cylindricus, ssepe iutus pilosus ; segmenta 5, oblonga, 

 erecta, submembranacea, vix imbricata, marginibus demum subrevolutis, sestivatione minime sinis- 

 trorsum convoluta, ssepe intus dense villosa. Stamina 5, tubo inserta ; filamenta brevia, complanata, 

 pilosula ; antherte omnino exsertse, in conum conniventes, apieibus membranaceis inflexis ; connec- 

 tivum corneum, imo in farcas 2 paullo divergentes fissum. Discus in lobos 5 liberos divisus. 

 Ovaria 2 distincta, paullo breviora. Stylus tenuis, brevis ; clavuncula incrassata ; stigmata 2, 

 brevia, terminalia. Folliculi 2, teretes, torulosi, nunc interrupte et longe strangulati, sutura ventrali 

 dehiscentes. Semina oblonga, ventre concava, et raphe longitudinali notata; coma paullo longior, 

 sericea, decidua. 



SuflEnitices Antillani, plerumque Brasilienses ; ramuli tenues, sapius scandentes ; paniculse axillares 

 aut terminales, scspius multum divism spiciformes aut laasiuscule ramosce, multiflores ; flores minimi, stepius 

 dense aggregati. 



1. FoRSTERONiA FLORiBUNDA, Meyer, Esseq. p. 135 (non Miill.) ; A. DC. Prodr. viii. p. 437 ; Griseb. Fl. W. 



Ind. p. 412: Echites floribunda, Sw. Prodr. p. 52; Fl. Ind. Occid. p. 534: Parsonsia floribunda, 

 R. Br. Mem. Wern. Soc. i. p. 65 ; G. Don, Diet. iv. p. 79. In AntiUis : v. s. in herb. Mus. Brit. 

 Jamaica ( S war tz, Wright, Masson). 



The typical specimen shows this to be a true Forsteronia. It is a shrub with flexuose, 

 slender, scandent, glabrous branches ; its opposite leaves are oval or oblong-ovoid, 

 obtuse at the base, gradually acute and obtusely mucronate at the apex, the margins 

 subrevolute, subcoriaceous, glabrous, deep green above, subnitid, sulcate along the 

 midrib, with about 12 pairs of patently diverging nerves, with others shorter and inter- 

 mediate, all semiimmersed, yellowish and opake beneath, with a prominent reddish 

 midrib and scarcely promkiulent fine nerves, 2J-3 in. long, 1-1^ in. broad, on petioles 

 2-3 lines long ; panicles axillary and terminal, shorter than the leaves, much divided, 

 their branchlets 3 lines long, bearing numerous very small white flowers on slender pedicels 

 2 lines long ; sepals ovate-acute, ^ line long ; corolla 3 lines long, externally pruinose ; 

 tube \ line long, villous inside ; segments lanceolate, equilateral, membranaceous, very 

 villous inside towards the base, sinistrorsely subconvolute ; anthers exserted, connivent, 

 vlUous ; disk of 6 oblong glabrous lobes, as long as the pubescent ovaries. 



2. Forsteronia Pavonii, A. DC. I. c. p. 438. In Peruvia (Pavon) : v. s. in herb. Mus. Brit. Tarapota 



(Spruce 4908). 



Spruce's plant agrees well with the short description of De CandoUe. The branches 

 are dichotomous, the branchlets spreading, glabrous, shining black, slender, striolate, 

 with axils 1 in. apart ; leaves oblong, subacutely obtuse at the base, gradually acuminate, 

 thinly chartaceous, glabrous, pale green above, with fine immersed nerves, paler beneath, 

 opake, midrib flat, reddish, with scarcely prominulent nerves, 2 in. long, 9-12 lines 

 broad, on slender spreading channelled petioles 2 lines long ; panicles terminal in the 

 young branches, spicately racemose, 2 in. long, on a peduncle bare at its base for 9 lines, 

 its approximately divided branches bearing very numerous condensated minute flowers 

 on pedicels ^ line long ; sepals ovate, subacute, pale and membranaceous, with small inner 

 scales; corolla less than 2 lines long, glabrous outside; tube extremely short, sericeous 



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