157 



GENUS XVI. BRIDELIA. 

 olygamia IHConcecia. Sex: Syst : 

 Deriv. Named after the great muscologist, Professor Bridel. 



Gen. Chae. Segments of the male calyx valvate in aestivation, 

 regular : petals as many as the segments, and alternating with 

 them : disc developed : stamens vertieillately inserted in a central 

 column : anthers 2-cleft : cells of the ovary 2-ovuled : fruit stony, 

 afterwards incompletely breaking as a capsule : seeds ecarunculate, 

 the hilar side 1-furrowed, albuminous : radicle very short : cotyle- 

 dons broad, flattened, hilar side concave. — Trees : leaves short- 

 petioled or subsessile, usually broadly or narrowly obovate, elliptic 

 or ovate, entire or toothed, often rufescently hairy : flowers rarely 

 dioecious, spiked or glomerate, bracteate : bracts stipular, deeply 

 bicuspidate, and when furnished with a limb tricuspidate : calyces 

 of either sex regularly 5- parted, segments of the males persistent, 

 of females afterwards often deciduous : petals 5, commonly much 

 shorter than the sepals, of either sex spathulate at the base, males 

 usually triangular-obovate above and variously 3 — 5-lobed, females 

 narrower and more entire : disc double, adnate to the male calyx, 

 outer side of the female similar to the male, inner ascending and 

 more or less loosely girting the ovary, 5-lobed or toothed at the 

 apex : anthers ovoid : styles 2, bipartite : fruit at length incom- 

 pletely bicoccous, 2 — 1-seeded : mesocarp fleshy : endocarp bony : 

 embryo straight or lightly curved. 



(1) B. EEirsA. (Muller.) 



Ident. Dec. prod. XV s. 2. p. 493. 



Spec. Chae. Mowers dioecious, spiked : spikes axillary, some- 

 what leafless : petals of female flowers spathulate-lanceolate 

 entire, of the males obovate, unguiculate, lobulate : berries globose, 

 obtuse. 



Var. a. GEiruiifA. — Branchlets pubescent : leaves oblong-elliptic 

 or ovate, or obovate or lanceolate-obovate, subacute or obtuse, 

 lightly cordate at the base or obtuse or more rarely narrowed, 

 above glabrous, beneath minutely pubescent and rufescent a,t the 

 ribs and veins or glaucous-rufescent : flowers spiked, rarely glome- 

 rate at the same time in the same specimens. — Cluytia retusa, 

 Linn. — B. retusa. Sprang. Sysi. Baill. Etud. t, 25. Jigs. 25 — 34. — 

 C. spinosa, Soxb. Gor. t. 172. 



Canara. Behar. Circars. Assam. Mowering in July and 

 August. 



Var. h. SQUAMOSA. — Leaves lanceolate-ovate, lightly cordate at 

 the base, glabrous: flowers glomerate or shortly spiked in the 

 axils of the leaves. — Cluytia sq^uamosa, Xam. Encyol. — B. montana, 

 Wall. Oat. Baill. Mud. 



Malabar. Concan. 



