513 



GENUS XVII. AVICBNNIA. 



ttldynamla Ausio*pe'i^>*il»' Sex: St/tl: 



, Deriv. Named a,tbeT Avicenna, a celebrated Persian phiiosOo 

 |>ker and physician. 



Gen. Char. Calyx deeply 5-parted, almost 5-leaved, equal : 

 leaves concave, obtuse, imbricated : tube of the corolla short, cam- 

 pannlate, limb 5-clef^ posterior lobe usually broader and somewhat 

 dissimilar : stamens four, inserted above on the tube, glabrous, 

 shortly ezserted, somewhat unequal, alternate with the lobes : 

 anthers 2>celled, cells distinct, collateral, dehiscing lengthwise : 

 ovary sessile, silky, 2-celled : ovules pendulous, two or one by 

 abortion : style, when present, enolosed : stigmas two, short, 

 diverging after flowering • fmit obliquely ovate, compressed, 

 apiculated with the rudiment of the style, supported by the calyx 

 Siud bracts : pericarp coriaceous, very smooth within : albumen. 

 scarcely any. — Trees : leaves opposite, quite entire, glabrescent 

 above, white below with a dense covering : peduncles single, axil- 

 lary, tern at the tops of the branches, often S-headed in the middle :> 

 bracts and bracteoles similar, and with the calyx and back of thei- 

 eilky corolla villous-ciliated at the margin : corolla small. 



(1) A. OFFiciNAtis. (Linn.) 



Ident. Linn. Sp. I. p. 110.— Dec. pi-od. XI. p. 700. 



Syn. A. resinifera, Forsi. — A. tomentosa, R. Br. — Roxb. Jtor: 

 Jni. III. p. 88.— tA. alba, Sterne. — Sceura marina, jForst.-^Mangi- 

 um album, Rumph. — 'Oepata, Rheede. 



Engrav. Rheede Mai. IV. t. 45.— Wight's Icon. t. 1481-2.— 

 Wall. PL As. Rar. III. t. 271.— Rumph. Arab. III. t. 76. 



Spec. Char. Tree : leaves oblong-lanceolate, subelliptic or obo- 

 vate, acuminated, acute or obtuse, attenuated into the petiole, at 

 last shining above, white below : capitules globose, dense : lobes of 

 the corolla half-exserted from the calyx, nearly equal, erect-spread- 

 ing, recurved at the apex, ovate, acute or obtuse or emarginate, silky 

 above, shining below ; ovary enclosed, obovate, glabrous at the base, 

 villous at the apex: stigmas subsessile: flowers white or dingy- 

 yellow. 



Malabar. Soonderbuns. In damp marshy localities by the sea- 

 shore. Flowering in the hot season. 



