■Buettneria.] bueTtmikiace^. 39 



3. BTTETTNEEIA, Linn. 



Calyx 5-lobe(l. Petals clawed, concave or hood-shaped, arching over the 

 stamens aiid ovary, the top of the hood usually 3-lobed, the centraliobe 

 Jong and narrow. Staminal tube short, with 5 (or rarely 10) barren lobes, 

 and 5 nearly sessile 2-celled anthers between them. Ovary sessile, 5-celled, 

 with 2 ovules in each cell. Style shortly 5-cleit at the top. Capsule globular, 

 usually covered vrith prickles ; the carpels separating when ripe, and opening 

 along the inner edge. Seeds solitary, without albumen. Cotyledons spirally 

 convolute. — TJndershrubs or tall cHmbers, often prickly. Flowers small, in 

 umbels, or rarely in corymbs, mostly axUlary or lateral. 



A considerable tropical genus, chiefly American, with a few African or Asiatic species. 



1. B. aspera, Golebr. in Roxb. M. Ind. ed. Wall. ii. 383. A very large 

 ■woody climber, slightly tomentose on the young parts, the inflorescences, and 

 calyx ; the stem not prickly. Leaves broadly ovate, cordate, or nearly orbicular, 

 4 to 6 or even 8 in. long, very obtuse or with a short narrow point. Flowers 

 small, yellowish and slightly pink inside, in dense umbels or fascicles, several 

 of which are irregularly collected in lateral panicles shorter than the leaves. 

 Calyx broadly ca.mpan.ulate,. \\ in. long. Petals, shortly bifid at the top, with 

 an intermediate linear pointed process much longer than the calyx. Staminal 

 tube with 5 ovate sterile lobes,- and 5 intermediate anthers. Capsule globular, 

 near 3 in. diameter; covered with short stout prickles. 



Eather local in Hongkong, creeping over the rocks, Clumpion and others. Common in 

 S. China, Khasia, and Assam. 



8. PTEROSPEEMUM, Sohreb. 



Calyx tubular, 5-lobed. Petals 5. Stamens united into a column at the 

 't)ase, with 5 long barren filaments and 15 shorter ones, each bearing a linear 

 erect 2-celled anther. Ovary shortly stalked, 5-ceUed, with several ovules in 

 each cell. Style entire. Capsule woody, with a loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds 

 vfinged at the upper end. ' Albumen scarcely any. — Trees or shrubs, with a 

 stellate or scaly pubescence. Leaves coriaceous. Flowers usually large, soli- 

 tary or few together, on axillary peduncles. 



A genus of few species, all from tropical Asia, 



1. P. acerifolium, Wllld.; W. andArn. Trod. II. Petiins. i. 69 ; Wiffkt, 

 Ic. t. 631. A large tree, with spreading branches. Leaves stalked, broadly 

 and irregularly obovate or ovate-truncate, 6 to 8 in. long, usually sinuately 

 toothed or shortly 5- to 7-lobed, and either peltate or deeply cordate at the 

 base, tomentose umdemeath, nearly glabrous above. Flowers 4 or 5 in. long, 

 white, fragrant, on short pedicels. Sepals tomentose. Petals obhque, long 

 and narrbw. Steiile filaments nearly as long. Capsule oblong, with 5 raised 

 angles. 



In the woods near the Buddhist Temple, Champion. The species is apparently indigenous 

 in the Indian Archipelago, and perhaps also in Khasia and some other parts of last- India. 

 Jt is,-hpwever, frequently planted, and it is therefore uncertain whether it njaynot hav* 

 been introduced into Hongkong. . ; 



