LXXVII. StYRACACfi^. 9&7 



valves. Seed^ usually solitary, the embryo in the axis of a fleshy albumen. — 

 Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire or toothed, without stipules. Flowers 

 axillary, solitary or in simple or branched racemes. 



A small Order, dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and America, with 

 very few African species and only one extending into Europe. The Australian genus is the 

 principal one in Asia and America. — Benth. 



1. SYMPLOCOS, Linn. 

 (From the Greek ; lobes of corolla connected at the base but appear free.) 

 Calyx 5-lobed. Corolla-lobes imbricate in the bud, and not contorted, the 

 petals sometimes almost free. Stamens more than twice as many as corolla- 

 lobes. Fruit a berry, crowned by the calyx-lobes. Cotyledons much shorter 

 than the radicle. — Trees or shrubs, the foliage often turning yellowish in drying. 

 Flowers in axillary, simple or branched, spikes or racemes. 



The genus ranges over tropical and subtropical Asia and America, but appears to be deficient 

 in Africa. Of the 3 Australian species, one, extending to the islands of the South Pacific, is a 

 slight variety of a common Asiatic one, the others are endemic. 



Flowers sessile or nearly so. Petals about IJ line diameter 1. S. spicata. 



Flowers distinctly pedicellate. Petals about 3 lines diameter .... 2. S. Thwaitesii. 

 Mowers small, in spikes often under 2in. long. Corolla about 2 lines 



long. Stamens 15 or fewer 3. S.paucistamineus. 



1. S. spicata (flowers in spikes), Roxb.; A. DC. Prod. viii. 254, var. australis ; 

 Benth. Fl. Austr. iv. 292. A moderate-sized tree, quite glabrous. Leaves usually 

 oval-elliptical or oblong-elliptical, but varying from obovate to lanceolate, obtuse 

 or shortly acuminate, entire or irregularly toothed, contracted into a petiole, 

 mostly about 4in. long but sometimes much larger, smooth and often shining 

 but scarcely so much so as in S. Thwaitesii. Flowers small, sessile or nearly 

 so and often numerous, in axillary spikes sometimes simple but more frequently 

 branched into a panicle of 1 to 2in. Bracts and bracteoles small and very 

 deciduous. Calyx-lobes exceedingly short, broad. Petals about If line long, 

 cohering in a ring with the stamens, which are sometimes obscurely 5-adelphous. 

 Fruit black, in the Australian form ovoid, contracted at the top. — Seem. Fl. Vit. 

 153 ; S. Stawellii, F. v. M. Fragm. v. 60. 



Hab.: Eockingham Bay, Dallachy ; not uncommon in southern localities. Fruit ripe in 

 February. 



The species is widely spread over E. India and the Indian Archipelago, where the berry is 

 usually quite globular. The southern form, with the longer berry contracted at the top, is 

 precisely the same as that found in the Fiji islands and the New Hebrides. There is, as far 

 as I can perceive, no other difference between the two forms. — Benth. 



Wood white, close-grained ; suitable for any purpose to which Box is applied.— Bailee's Gat. 

 Ql. Woods No. 271. 



2. S. Thwaitesii (after G. H. K. Thwaites), F. v. M. Fragm. iii. 22 v. 211 ; 

 Benth. El. Austr. iv. 293. A shrub or tree, attaining sometimes a considerable 

 size, quite glabrous, closely resembling S. spicata in habit and characters, but 

 the leaves are usually firmer and more shining, and the flowers considerably 

 larger and more distinctly pedicellate, forming simple or branched racemes, the 

 pedicels however rarely exceed 1 line. Calyx-lobes broad and obtuse, the inner- 

 most much larger than the outer ones. Petals nearly 3 linos long. Fruit when 

 young oblong, contracted at the top but not seen ripe. 



Hab.: Bockingham Bay, Da^tacft?/ ; Marooohie. 



The species is very closely allied to S. grandiflora, Wall., from Silhet, but the leaves are more 

 rigid, less acuminate, and the pedicels shorter.— jBent/t. 

 Wood light iu colour, fine in grain, and tough. — Bailey's Cat Ql. Woods No. 271a. 



