Saccopetalum.] MENISPEBMACE^. 25 



4. SACCOPETALUM, Bennett; PL Br. Ind. i. 88. 



Trees. Leaves deciduous. Flowers 2-sexual. Sepals 8, small, 

 valvate. Petals 6, valvate, in two series, outer small f and like the 

 sepals ; inner much larger, erect or conniving, saccate at the base. 

 Stamens indefinite ; anther-aeWs, contiguous, connective produced into 

 a conspicuous appendage. Ovaries many ; ovules 6 or more. Bipe 

 carpels sub-globose. 



S. tomentosum, iffc. /. Sf T. Fl. Ind. 152; D. <^ G. Bomh. Fl 4 ; 

 F. B. I. i. 88; Brand. For. Fl. 7 ; Watt E. D.; King in Ann. B. But. Gard. 

 Calc. iv. 159, t. 207. Uvaria tomentosa, Boxh. ; Fl. Ind. ii. 667 ; W. ^ 

 A. Prod. 8. Vern. Karri (Oudh). 



A large tree, young branches tomentose. Leaves 6-12 in. long, shortly 

 petioled, thickly membranous, ovate or ovate-oblong, sub-acute or 

 rounded at the base ; upper surface, except the midrib, glabrous or 

 nearly so, pubescent cr tomentose beneath when young ; main nerves 

 6-11 pairs, prominent beneath. i^Jni^-ers 1 in. in diam., leaf-opposed or 

 subterminal, solitary or in pairs; pedicels slender, bracteate at the base. 

 Sepals and outer petals minute, subequal, lanceolate, reflexed , pubes- 

 cent ; inner petals much larger, ovate-oblong, obtuse, saccate at the 

 base. Stamens many, in several rows, minutely apiculate. Ovaries 

 ovate, pointed, hirsute at the base ; ovules about 6, in two rows ; stigma 

 sessile. Eipe carpeis globose, tapering to the base, pubescent, dark 

 purple, 1 in. in diam. 



Dehra Dun and Siwalik range ; forests of Oudh. Distrib. : South- 

 ward from Behar and Konkan to Travancore. The leaves turn to an 

 orange-yellow colour before falling in March, the flowers appearing with 

 the new leaves in April ; fruit ripens in June. The leaves are used as 

 fodder. 



IV.-MENISPERMACEJE. 



Climbing or twining rarely erect shrubs. Leaves alternate, 

 entire or lobed ; stipules 0. Flowers small, dioecious or poly- 

 gamous. Sepals usually 6, free, imbricate, in 2 series, outer often 

 minute. Petals usually 6, or wanting. Male fl.: Stamens 

 hypogynous, usually i opp. each petal ; filaments free or connate ; 

 rudimentary carpels small or 0. Fem. fl. : Staminodes 6 or 0. 

 Ovaries usually 3 ; ovules generally solitary. Eipe carpels 

 drupaceous, with the style-scar subterminal, or by eccentric growth 

 near the base. Seed curved or reniform ; albumen even or 

 ruminate or none. — Species nearly all tropical. 



For an account of the peculiar structure of the wood in this 

 family see Brandis For. Fl. p 10. The plants of this family ar 



