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Pala; Rheede Hort. Malab. 8i. t. 45, not 46.)— Leaves 

 feveral in each wliorl, obovate-oblong, obtufe, ribbed, fur- 

 rounded with a marginal vein. Cymes I'talked. Limb of 

 the corolla but partially bearded. Follicles verv long and 



flender Native of Malabar and the Molucca illands, in 



fandy ground, flovv.-ring in January. A very tall and 

 fpreading tree, whofe wood, Rumphius tells us, is ufed by 

 fchool-boys in India, as flates arc with us. The leaves are 

 from five to feven in each whorl, ftalkeJ, with numerous, 

 paraDel, trani"verfe veins, or ribs.' Cyms many-flowered, 

 compound, fpreading, downy. Flomiers fmall, about half 

 an inch long, whitifli, fweet-fcented, but opprefiive to the 

 head. Corolla downy on the infide and out, but not 

 denfely bearded, or ftiaggy, except around the mouth. 

 Follicles eighteen inches long, not fo thick as a wheaten 

 ftraw. Seeds furnifhed at each end with a tuft of very long 

 filky hairs. 



2. A. fpeBabllis. Handfome Alftonia. Br. n. 2. — 

 " Leaves four in a whorl, elliptic -oblong, .ribbed, fomewhat 

 pointed, without any marginal vein. Cymes ftalked, 

 fhorter than the leaves. Limb of the corolla bearded. 

 Follicles very long." — Obferved by Mr. Brown, in April 

 1803, in the ifland of Timor, near Coepang, bearing 

 flowers and fruit. Very nearly akin to the foregoing, but 

 diftirift ; not ill-reprefented by Rumpliius's plate, t. 82, 

 but his defcription agrees beft with A. fcholaris. Brown. 

 We would obferve, that the number of the leaves in this 

 figure Agrees beft with fcholaris, and that the omifTion of the 

 marginal nerve, fo little confpicuous in nature, is rather to 

 he attributed to inaccuracy of the engraver, if not of tlie 

 draughtfman. 



3. A. venenata. - Poifonous Alftonia. Br. n. 3. — Leaves 

 four in a whorl, lanceolate, pointed ; tapering at the bafe. 

 Cymes forked. Tube of the corolla fwelling upwards. 

 Limb beardlefs, ftiorter than the tube. Follicles tapering 

 at each end, fcarcely fo long as the leaves. — Native of the 

 Eaft Indies. Dr. Roxburgh. We received a fpecimen 

 from the Rev. Dr. Rottler, gathered at Nundydroog, 

 March 17, 1806. The leaves are crowded towards the 

 ends of the branches, ftalked, very fmooth, three inches or 

 more in length. Flowers like thofe of a Tabertiitmontana, 

 their limb an inch broad, with oblong, obhque, rather 

 blunt than acute fegments ; tube an inch and a half long, 

 inflated in the upper part, very fmooth, as well as the limb. 

 The calyx is a little downy, or fringed. Floiuer-Jlalks 

 quite fmooth. We have not feen \he follicles. 



4. A. cojlata. Ribbed Alftonia. Br. n. 4. (Echites 

 coftata ; Forft. Prodr. 20, excluding the fynonym. Willd. 

 Sp. PI. v. I. 1240.) — " Leaves oppofite, elliptic-oblong, 

 pointed, ribbed. Cymes loofe. Segments of the limb lan- 

 ceolate, beardlefs, longer tlian the tube. Follicles very 

 long." — Native of the Society ifles. Forjler. Gathered 

 by fir Jofeph Banks in Otaheite and Ulaietea, between the 

 fummits of hills (called by the natives Attahe). Bronvn. 

 We prefume the plant, not the hills. A moderate-fized 

 tree. Tht feeds are fringed, but, according to Mr. Brown, 

 the filky hairs at each end are not fo remarkably elongated 

 as in other fpecies. Kametti-Valli, Hort. Malab. v. g. 

 t. 14, is a climber, having {hort follicles, with winged naked 

 feeds, and therefore cannot, as Forfter thought, be fynony- 



mous with this. 



A'LTAY Mountains. See Altai. 



ALTERNANTHERA, in Botany, fo caUed by 

 Fordcall, from the ftamens being, as he thought, alternately 

 furniftied with anthers, and without them..^ — Forfl<. iEgypt.- 

 Arab. j8. Brown Prodr. Nov. Holl. v. i. 416 — Clafs 



4 



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and order. Petit andrla Manogynia. - Nat. Ord. Holeracetr, 

 Linn. Amaranthi, JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, in five 

 deep, coloured, pointed, fpreading, permanent, and finally 

 hardened, fegments. Cor. none. Stam. Filaments five, 

 capillary, (horter than the calyx, inferted into a membranous 

 ring, furrounding the bafe of the germen, with more or lefs 

 remarkable intermediate teeth ; anthers fimple, oval, of one 

 cell, generally wanting on two or three of the filaments 

 alternately. Pijl. Germen ovate, acute ; ftyle very ftiort ; 

 ftigma capitate. Peric. Capfule membranous, inverfely 

 kidney-ftiaped, comprefled, of one valve and one cell, in- 

 flated, not burfting, enclofed in the cartilaginous calyx. 

 Seed folitary, roundifti, pointed. 



Efl". Ch. Calyx in five deep fegments, cartilaginous. 

 Corolla none. Stamens partly imperfedt, inferted into a 

 membranous ring, with intermediate teeth. Anthers finglc- 

 celled. Stigma capftate. Capfule kidney-ftiaped, of one 

 cell, without valves. Seed folitary. 



Obf. Mr. Brown properly retains the name of Illege- 

 BRUM, (fee that article,) for /. verticillatum and its allies, 

 from which we can fcarcely feparate /. Paronychia, &c. He 

 would divide the prefent genus, which agrees very nearly 

 in habit with Illccebrum, into two fetlions. Thefe we ftiall 

 here adopt, according to his fuggeftion, for the diftribution 

 of the fpecies. 



Seft. I, Two of the filaments deprived of anthers. Liter- 

 mediate teeth very ftiort, or obfolete. 



1. A. feffiUs. Seflile-flowered Alternanthera. Forfl'.-, 

 ^gypt.-Arab. 28. (Illecebrum feflile ; Linn. Sp. PI. 300. 

 Mant. 345. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 1209. Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 v. 2. 61. Vahl Symb. v. i. 22. Am.aranthoides humilc 

 maderafpatanum, capitulis candicantibus, folic molli ; Pluk. 

 Phyt. t. 133. f. I. Amaranthus humihs, foliis oppofitis, 

 flofculis in alis conglomeratls ; Burm. Zeyl. 17. t. 4. f. 2.) 

 — Calyx fmooth ; fegments ovate, pointed, almoll twice 

 the length of the capfule. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, nearly 

 entire, bearded at their irsfertion. Stem procumbent, hairy 

 on two oppofite fides. — Native of Arabia and the Eall 

 Indies. A biennial, or perhaps annual herb, whofe branch- 

 ing Jleni! fpread on the ground, in every diredlion, to the 

 length of a foot or more, and are leafy, bluntly quadrangular ; 

 the oppofite furrows denfely hairy. Leaves oppofite, 

 ftalked, fpreading or reflexed, from one to two inches long, 

 bluntifti, nearly or quite entire, fingle-ribbed, fmooth, 

 bright green, rather fleftiy. Footflalks very ftiort, bearded, 

 and connefted by intermediate ftipulaceous briftles. Heads 

 o{ flowers feftile, axillary, i^olitary, obtufe, half an inch, more 

 or lefs, in length, white and ftiining, like everlafting flowers. 

 Calyx fingle-ribbed, ftrongly keeled, pellucid. Capfule 

 broadly heart -fliaped, finely reticulated. The leaves occi- 

 fionally vary to an obovate, or fpatulate figure. 



2. A. denticulata. Toothed Alternanthera. Br. n. i. — . 

 Calyx fmooth ; fegments ovate, pointed, almoft twice the 

 length of the capfule. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, finely 

 toothed, fmooth ; bearded at their infertion. Stem procum- 

 bent, fmooth. — Gathered by Mr. Brown in the tropical 

 part of New Holland, as well as in New South Wales, and 

 Van Diemen's ifland. We have feen no fpecimen. 



3. A. nodifora. Knotty-flowered Alternanthera. Br. 

 n. 2. — Calyx fmooth ; fegments narrow-lanceolate, pointed, 

 thrice the length of the capfule. Leaves linear -l.'mceol.'',te, 

 finely toothed, fmooth ; bearded at their infertion. Stem 

 diffufe, fquare, fmooth ; its ultimate branches only downy 

 on two oppofite fides. — Difcovered by Mr. Brown, in the 

 tropical diftrict of New Holland. Thefe three fpecies 

 appear to be all nearly allied. 



4. A. 



