EUPHORBIACE.E. 43 



15. METTENIA, Gr. 



f/owers dioecious. Cffi/y.r: " J' S-fid;" ? 5-pai'tite, imbricative. Petals Vi. "Stamens 

 bisenate, monadelphous, 4 exterior inferior, 3 interior : anthers didymous." Ovary hispid, 

 3-ceUed, surrounded by a laciniate disc; styles 3, bipartite, spreading, papillose to the base 

 CopTOie echinate, .globose, 3-coccous. Seeds caruncnlate, globose-compressed ;• raphe at 

 length none.— A tree or shrub ; leaves leathery, quite entire, exstimilaie; racemes terminal 

 pubescent: noweia faseictilaie. 



61. M. globosa, Gr.—Croton, Sw. Eicinus, W.—SO' (Pd.), or 4'-5' high (Sw ) ■ 

 branchlets pubescent with simple hairs ; leaves ovate, blunt, or bluntish, 2"-l" long gla- 

 brescent, shining above : petiole thiddsh, l"'-2"' long ; ? racemes shortly peduncled, 1" 

 long: pedicels 5-2 together, l"'long; calyx 1'" long, much imbricated: segments ovate, 

 blunt, as long as the pistil; capsule 4'" diam., covered with bluntly pyramidal, scabrous 

 prickles ; seeds 2'" diam., even, brown (the exterior whitish membranaceous integument 

 being destroyed spontaneously, together with the raphe) : caruncle large, convex, entire.— 

 Hab. Jamaica !, Mac/., Pd., rare in the high mountains, e.ff. Moorce's Gap. 



16. MABEA, Juil. 



Mowers monoecious. Calyx 5-6-lobed. Petals 0. Stamens », distinct, inserted upon a 

 convex disc : anthers adnate, extrorse, mucronulate. Style 3-fid : branches simple, revolute, 

 filiform. Capsule S-coccous. Seeds ovoii. — Trailing'shrubs ; leaves undivided, stimlate) 

 flowers in Tacemiform panicles, inferior $ . 



62. M. Taquari^ Aubl. Brmtehlets pubescent; leaves oblong, pomtleted, rounded at 

 the base, serrulate or subentire, glabrous above, hoary and puberulous or glabrate beneath ; 

 <? flowers long- pedicellate, temate: fascicles peduncled; seeds . . . — Aubl. t. 834. — Hab! 

 Trinidad !, Or., in the savannah of Aripe ; [Guiana, equatorial Brazil]. 



63. OT. occidentalis, Benth. Glabrous; leaves oblong, serrulate or subentire; 3 

 flowers long-pedicellate, temate : fascicles sessile; seeds ovoid-oblong, ecarunculate. — Seeds 

 3"'-4"' long, 2"'-3"' broad, shining-brown. In my Panama specimens of M. Piriri, Aubl., 

 the seeds are ovoid-globose, 24'" long and thick, and they have a distinct, discolor caruncle! 

 — Hab. Trinidad!, Cr.; at S. Ann's; [Panama, Guiana, Bahia], 



SuBTKiBE 4. DITAXIBE^. — Inflorescence centripetal, racemose: bracts \-flowered: 

 flowers monaoious, $ inferior, or dimcious. Stamens inserted around the abortive pis- 

 til. Seeds globose, ecarjincnlate, 



17. CAPEEONIA, St. Eil. 



J?ow«M monoecious (or dioecious). Calyx: $ 5 (-6) -partite, imbricative; ? 5-10-par- 

 tite, unequal. Petals 5. Stamens 10-8, distinct, inserted into the gynophore of the abor- 

 tive pistil : discal glands 0. Styles cut into many branches. Capsule 3-coccous, echinate. 

 Seeds punctate, globose, ecarunculate. — Annual herbs: stem simple; leaves penninerved- 

 costate, sharply serrate : stipules persistent ; racemes axillary. 



64. C. castaneifolia, St. Hil. Stem hispid with glands ; leaves broadly lanceolate, or 

 lanceolate-linear, acuminate, 16-20-costate; racemes androgynous, as long as, or half as long 

 as the leaves: ? flowers 3-1: calyx ciliate with stipitate glands: ? 6(-10)-partite: 

 5 segments larger, equal ; capsule densely glandular, and at length mnricate. — Plum. Ed. 

 Burm. t. 239./. 1; Bot. Mag. t. 2794. — Croton, L., Kth. C. palustris, Geis. {exclus. a 

 et synon.). Lepidococca Sieberi, Turcz.! : a form with the 5 smaller calyx-segments of $ 

 developed. — 1'-2' high ; leaves glabrate, either subsessile or with the petiole -^''-l" long ; 

 petals white. — Hab. Trinidad I, Schach, Cr., in swamps ; [Haiti I to Brazil 1, Panama ! to 

 Guayaquil!]. 



65. C. palustris, St. Hil. Glabrescent; leaves elliptical, ovate or oval-roundish, 

 pointed or blunt, 10-15-5ostate; racemes androgynous, 2-3 times exceeded by the leaf, $ 

 subsoUtary; calyx eglandular, ? 6-5 -partite: 3 segments larger, equal; capsule muricate 

 above. — Croton, Kth. : Linnteas's synonym (/c. Mart. Hist. t. 38) is not quite certain, J;he 

 stem in Martyn's native specimen being glandular, though glabrous in his cultivated one. 



