»] ' cxiv. NTCTAGiNEiE. (J. D. Hooker.) 711 



_ 1. p. aculeata^ Linn. ; a tall woody climber with axillary recurved 

 prickles, cymes dense-fld., fruit narrowly oblong or clavate 5-ribbed, riba 

 murioate witb several rows of glands. Chois. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 1, 440 ; 

 Lamk. 111. t. 861 ; Gaertn. Fruct. i. t. 76 ; Boxh. Fl. Ind. ii. 217 ; Wight Ip. 

 t. 1763-4 ; G-rah. Cat. Bomh. PI. 167 ; Kurx For. Fl. ii. 279 ; Bedd. Sylv. 

 Madr. 175, t. 22, f. 3. P. Georgina, Wall. Cat. 6768. P. villosa, Pair. Diet. 

 V. 347 ; Chois. I. c. Tragularia horrida, Koen. mss. 



South Conoait, and elsewhere in the Deooan Peninsula, Heyne, &e. Ceylon, 



Walker, &e. Buema, Wallioh Disteib. Tropical Asia, Africa, Australia and 



America. 



Tranh very short ; branches subopposite, horizontal. Leaves 2-3 in., elliptic, 

 obtuse, entire, base cuneate ; petiole J-J in. Flowers in dense axillary and terminal 

 corymbose cymes, greenish-white. Male flower .,' in. long, campanulate, pedioelled, 

 5-toothed. Stamens 1-8. -PeiMaZe flower ovoid, obscurely toothed j stigma lacerate. 

 Fruit long-pedicelled, |-f in. 



2. P. alba, Spanoghe in LinncBa, 1841, 342 ; unarmed, arboreous, leaves 

 large, fruit narrow club-shaped 6-angled, angles with one row of prickles. 

 Kurz For. Fl. ii. 279; Wight let. 1765; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. i. 1, 990 ; 

 Chois. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2, 446. P P. inermis, Forst. Prodr. 397. P. 

 morindeefolia, Br. in Wall. Cat. 7130 ; Chois. I. c. 447. P P. malabarica, 

 Poir. Encycl. Suppl. P P. mitis, Linn. Sp. PI. 1511 ; Burm. Fl. Ind. 224 

 {excl. citation ofKheede). 



Andaman Islands ; beach forests rare, Kurz; cultivated in India and Ceylon. 

 — BiSTBiB. Malay Islands. 



A tree, 30-40 ft., glabrous except the inflorescence ; branches stout. Leaves 

 6-10 in., oblong-ovate or oblong, acute or acuminate ; petiole J-lj in. Flowers ia 

 dense corymbose terminal cymes. JMa^e flower J in. long, tubular-eampanalate, pedi- 

 celled, 5-toothed ; stamens 8. Female flower much smaller ; stigma penicellate. Fruit 

 ^ in. long, long-pedicelled. — It is very doubtful what name this should bear ; it may 

 pi;obably be identified with P. inermis, Forst., of the Pacific Islands. 



3. P. excelsa, Blume Bijd. 735 ; unarmed, arboreous, leaves large 

 'petioled opposite alternate or 3-nately wborled, fruit elongate linear trun- 

 cate 6-angled, angles smooth viscid. Chois. in DC. Prodr. xiii. 2, 441 ; 

 Eassh. PI. Jav. Bar. 227 ; Spanoghe in Linni^a, 1841, 342 ; Miguel Fl. 

 Ind. Bat. i. 1, 990. P. umbeLifera, Seem, ex Kurz For. Fl. ii. 280. P. 

 macrocarpa, Presl Symb. t. 56. 



Andaman Islands; forests along the coast, Kwrx. — Disteib. Malay Islands, 

 A tree, 30-50 ft., glabrous except the pnberulous shoots. Leaves IJ-l ft. glossy ; 

 petiole i-1 in. Flowers small, cymose or umbellate ; peduncles sparingly toraentose 

 or glabrescent. Perianth nearly glabrous. Fruit 1\ in. or less, glabrous.^^-Kurz has 

 referred this to Seemann's P. ■umbellifera, which Bentham affirms (Fl. Austral. 

 V. 281) to be Blume's P. excelsa. I have seen only leaf and fruit, the rest of the 

 above description being from Kurz. 



Excluded Species.— P. racemosa. Wall. Cat. 7296, is Petunga longifolia, DC. 

 (Seev. iii. 120). 



Obser CXY. XIiZiECEBBACE2E. 



Herbs, usually small and tufted. Leaves opposite or alternate ; stipules 

 soarious. Flowers cymose, minute. Sepah 4-5, persistent, closing over 

 the fruit. Petals minute or 0. Stamens hypogynous or perigynous ; fila- 

 ments short ; anthers didymous. Ovary free, 1-celled ; style 2-3-fid, stigmas 

 decurrent ; ovule 1, erect or pendulous from a basal funicle. Utricle 

 enclosed in the perianth. Seed globose lenticular or reniform, testa smooth, 

 albumen floury ; embryo straight curved or annular.— Genera 17, species 

 70, most warm dry regions. 



