198 XV. piTTOspoRE^. (Hook. f. & Thorns.) 



Ovary 1-celled, with 2-5 parietal placentas, or 2-5-celled by the projection ' 

 of the placentas ; style simple, stigma terminal 2-5-lobed; ovules many, 

 parietal or axUe, an^tropous. Fruit capsular or indehiscent. Seeds usually 

 many, albumen copious ; embryo small, radicle next the lulum.— DlsTWB. 

 Genera 9 ; species about 90, chiefly Australian. 



1. FITTOSPORVnx, Banks. 



Erect trees or shrubs. Sepals free or connate below. Petals erect, claws 

 connivent or connate. Stamens 5, erect ; anthers 2-celled, introrse, bursting 

 by slits. Ovary sessile or shortly stalked, incompletely 2-3-celled ; ovules 

 2 or more on each placenta. Capsule 1-celled, woody, 2- rarely 3-valved ; 

 valves placeutiferous in the middle. Seeds smooth, imbedded in pulp. 

 — DisTEiB. Species about 50, subtropical Asiatic, Australian, and Oceanic. 



* Capsule 3-valved, twice as long as broad. 



1. P. ^labratum, Lindl. in Jmim. E<yrt. Soc. i. 230 ; leaves obovate 

 oblong Or lanceolate, flowers in lax terminal corymbs, peduncles glandular- 

 pubescent.— 5e?i<A. Fl. Hongkong, 19. 



Kbasia HiLLB, in thickets above 4000 ft., Griffith, &o. — ^Disteib. Amoy and Hong- 

 kong. 



A straggling ehrub, branches wliorled. Leaves 2-4 by|-liin., glabrous, usually 

 acuminate, base aoule, white beneath. Flowers | in. , pale yellow. /Sepafe sometimes 

 connate below, ovate, pubescent. Ovary linear-oblong, pubescent, style as long. Cap- 

 side 1 in. or more, obovoid-oblong, many-seeded. — In Griffith's Herb, there are speci- 

 mens marked as from Sikkim, but probably through misplacement of tickets. Chinese 

 specimens are usually quite glabrous, but the peduncles are now and then downy. 



** Capsule 2-valved, when ripe broader than long. 



t Leaves and branches glabrous {except 3, tetraspermum). 



2. P. bumile, H. f.& T. ; dwarf, leaves lanceolate, racemes subum- 

 beUate few-flowered much shorter than the leaves, sepals obtuse, ovary 

 glabrous. 



Khasia hills, banks of the Borpani river, alt. 5000 ft., H.f. & T. 



A small, much branched shrub, 1-2 ft., glabrous. Leaves 1^-24 by J-| in., short- 

 petioled, obtuse or subacute, margins recurved. Bacemes J— 1 in., slightly pubescent ; 

 pedicels J-^ in., pubescent; bracts as long, linear. Flowers J in., yellow-green. 

 ISepaU tV io-i ovate, obtuse. Petals oblong. Capside subglobose, scarcely compressed, 

 2-valved. 



3. P. tetraspermum, W. & A. Prodr. 154 ; leaves broad-ovate to lan- 

 ceolate acute, flowers in terminal many-flowered umbels, rays short simple 

 or 2-fid, sepals ovate acute ciUate, ovary tomentose. 'Wight Ic. t. 971 

 (stigma bad). 



IS'iLGHiKi Mts. ; and Ceylon, central province, alt. 6—7000 ft. 



A large shrub or tree; branches often umbelled, young puberulous. Leaves 14-4 

 by §-2 in., glabrous, shining above, pale below, coriaceous, acute at both ends. Vmiels 

 sessile or shortly peduncled, rays manj, J in., short, bracteolate, glabrous or pubescent. 

 Flowers J in. long, yellow-green. iStyle glabrous, 2-lobed. Capsule globose, glabrous, 

 2-valved, 4rBeeded. — Very closely allied to P. nilghirense. 



♦ 



4. P. nilg'liireiise, W. & A. Prodr. 164 ; leaves broad-ovate oblong or 

 lanceolate, flowers iu slender glabrous terminal 3-8-flowered corymbs, sepals 

 ovate acute subciliate, ovary tomentose. Wiglti IlL i. t. 70. 



