Aistonia.] LXXIX. Ai>OCYNAGE^. 986 



with a milky juice. Leaves in whorls of 8 or more, or in a few species opposite. 

 Flowers in terminal corymbose cymes, usually 1 in the axil of each leaf of the 

 terminal whorl. Bracts small. 



The species are not numerous, spread over tropical Asia and the Pacific Islands, Of the 

 5 Queensland species, one is the commonest of the Asiatic ones, anotlier is also in Java, the 

 other three are all probably endemic. 



Corolla-lobes with the left-hand margin overlappi,ng. Leaves whorled, with 

 transverse parallel veins. 

 Flowers sessile or nearly so in dense cymes, pubescent. Ovary villous . 1. A. scholm-is. 

 Flowers pedicellate in loose cymes, glabrous as well as the ovary . . 2. A. verticillosa. 

 Corolla-lobes with the right-hand margin overlapping. 

 Leaves in whorls of 3 or 4, oval elliptical or oblong, softly villous 



underneath. Veins distant, more or less arcuate and anastomosing . 3. A. villosd. 

 Leaves opposite, quite glabrous or softly pubescent. Veins distant . . . i. A. constricta. 

 Leaves in whorls of 4, 6 to 9in. long, 2 to Sin. broad. Follicles 10 to 

 15in. long ; ciliate hairs of seed longer than the seed itself 5. A. somersetensis. 



1. A. scholaris (wood used for school-boards in Burma), R. Br.; A. DC. 

 Prod. viii. 408; Benth. Fl. Austr. iv. 312. " Birrba," Forest Hill, Macartney; 

 " Koorool," Barron River, J. F. Bailey. A very large tree, usually glabrous 

 except the minutely pubescent inflorescence. Leaves in whorls of 5 to 7, 

 broadly petiolate, obovate-oblong, very obtuse,, shortly contracted at the base, 

 coriaceous, with transverse parallel veins, smooth, and shining above, opaque 

 and pale or whitish underneath, i to 6in. long. Peduncles in the axils of the 

 terminal whorls shorter than the leaves, each bearing 1 or 2 whorls of secondary 

 peduncles, and each of these a dense cyme of nearly sessile flowers. Calyx- 

 segments ovate, pubescent, rather above 1 line long. Corolla-tube 3 to 4 lines 

 long ; lobes pubescent outside, much shorter than the tube, the left-hand edges 

 overlapping in the bud, the throat closed by a dense ring of hairs. Ovary hirsute 

 at the top. Follicles 1ft. long or even more. Seeds about 3 lines long, the hairs 

 at each end longer than the seed itself. — Wight, Ic. t. 422. 



Hab.: Port Denisou, Kt^aiara ; Edgecombe and Rockingham Bays, Dallachy ; Broadsound, 

 Bowman. 



Tbe species is widely spread over tropical Asia and Africa. 



The bark of this tree furnishes the drug " Ditain," considered useful in chronic diarrhoea and 

 dysentery. 



Wood soft, close-grained, and of light colour. In some localities, split into palings and 

 shingles, but is better adapted lor indoor work. — Bailey's Cat. Ql. Woods No. 280. 



2. A,, verticillosa (leaves in whorls), F. v. M. Fragm. vi. 116 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. iv. 813. " Moranggal," Cooktown, BotJi. A tree of strong growth, 

 attaining sometimes a considerable height, with abundance of milky juice. 

 Leaves in whorls of 4 to 7, long-lanceolate, rather obtuse, narrowed into a 

 petiole of J to ^in. or sometimes very short, pale underneath, the transverse 

 veins parallel and numerous, mostly 3 to 4in. long but sometimes only 2in. 

 Peduncles in the axils of the terminal whorls, each bearing 1 or rarely 2 whorls 

 of secondary peduncles and each of these a loose cyme of flowers on pedicels 

 of 1 to 2 lines, all quite glabrous, Calyx- segments broadly ovate, ciliolate, 

 about i line long. Corolla-tube above 1 line long, the lobes about half as 

 long as the tube, the left-hand edges overlapping in the bud, the throat hairy 

 inside. Ovary glabrous ; ovules rather numerous in each carpel, but less so 

 than in A. scholaris. Follicles about 7in. long. Seeds about 2 lines long and 

 f line broad, brown, velvety, the hairs at each end twice as long as the seed 

 itself. — Alyxia actinophylla, A. Cunn. in Bot. Mag. under n. 33t3 ; A. DC. Prod, 

 viii. 346. 



Hab.: Cape York, Darnel; Albany, Island, W. Hill; grassy forest land, south shore of 

 Endeavour Biver, A. Cunningham. A common tree of the tropical scrub. 

 Timber used for making canoes, Roth. 

 Wood of a light colour, soft, and easy to Work. — Builey's Cat. Ql. Woods No. 281. 



