1886 CXV. SANTALACE^. 



3. FUSANUS, Linn. 



(From French name of Spindle-tree, which it is supposed to resemble.) 



(Eucarya, Mitch.) 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianth-tube adnate, turbinate, shortly produced' 

 beyond the ovary into a broad open free portion, lined by the sinuately 4-lobed 

 disk, the margin of which is continuously free inside the stamens, the perianth- 

 lobes 4, with a taft of hairs behind each stamen. Filament short, inflected 

 over the notches of the disk ; anthers short, with 2 parallel cells opening 

 longitudinally. Ovary inferior, with an erect rather thick placenta, scarcely 

 acuminate at the top, the 2 or 8 adnate ovules distinct only at the base and the 

 whole difficult to separate from the fleshy ovary before fecundation. Style very 

 short and conical or scarcely any, with 2 or rarely 3 distinct terminal stigmas. 

 Fruit a globular drupe, crowned by the persistent perianth-lobes or rarely by the 

 scar only of the fallen lobes, the epicarp more or less fleshy or succulent, the 

 endocarp hard and usually rugose or pitted. — Trees or shrubs with the habit 

 foliage and inflorescence of Santalum, but with smaller flowers. Bracts small, 

 and very deciduous so as to be rarely seen. 



The genus is limited to Australasia. It is united by De Candolle with Santalum, but the 

 perianth, the disk, the ovary, and the style appear to me to be sufficiently distinct to maintain 

 the Linnsean genus adopted by Brown, and to show an approach almost as much to Choretrum 

 as to Santalum. — Benlh. 



Leaves mostly acuminate. Panicles terminal. Perianth-lobes persistent 



till the fruit is nearly ripe 1. F. acuminatus. 



Leaves mostly acute. Panicles axillary. Perianths pedicellate, the lobes 



falling off immediately after flowering 2. F, persicarhis. 



1. r. acuminatus (acuminate), R. Br. Prod. 855 ; Benth. Fl. Amtr. vi. 

 215. A tall shrub or a tree of 20 to 80ft. Leaves opposite, lanceolate, 

 acute or sometimes when young with a short hooked point, mostly 2 or Sin. 

 long and tapering into a petiole of 2 or 3 lines, but very variable in size and 

 breadth, coriaceous, with the lateral veins often prominent when old. Flowers 

 rather numerous, in a terminal .pyramidal panicle scarcely longer than 

 the leaves, but sometimes much • reduced. Perianth spreading to about 

 2\ lines diameter, the lobes somewhat concave even when open. Free 

 margin of the disk very prominent, broadly rounded between the stamens which 

 curve over the notches. Anthers very short. Style exceedingly short and 

 conical or scarcely any, with a deeply 2 or 3-lobed stigma. Fruit globular, \ to 

 fin. diameter, with a succulent epicarp, and a hard bony much pitted endocarp, 

 the perianth-lobes persisting on the top till the fruit is nearly or quite ripe. — 

 Santalum acuminatum, A. DO. Prod. xiv. 684 ; 8. Preissianum, Miq. in PI. 

 Preiss. i. 615, A. DC. I.e., F. v. M. Fragm. i. 85 ; S. cognatum, Miq. I.e. 616, 

 A. DO. I.e. ; also Fusanus acuminatus, Miq. I.e. 617, according to F. v. M. 



Hab.: South-western inland localities, A. J, HocMngs. 



2. F. persicarius (from local name of fruit, viz. : Native Peach), F. v. 

 M. ; Benth. Fl. Amtr. vi. 216. Native Peach, " Tangber," St. George, Wedd. 

 A tall shrub or small tree, with opposite or scattered lanceolate or linear leaves, 

 often very much like those of F. acuminatus, but the lateral veins less conspicuous 

 or quite evanescent, and more frequently terminating in a hooked point. 

 Panicles mostly or all in the upper axils and shorter than the leaves, the primary 

 branches bearing usually a small cyme of few flowers. Perianth almost roTiate, 

 opening to about 2 lines diameter, the margin of the disk less prominent than in 

 F. acuminatus, but the structure of the flowers otherwise the same. Fruit 

 globular, differing according to F. v. M. in the epicarp not succulent and the 

 endocarp minutely not coarsely pitted, a character rarely to be verified in dried 

 specimens, which however show that the perianth-lobes fall away immediately 



