■106 STEBCULIACh^. [Melhania. 



1. M. Hamiltoniana, Wall. PI. As. Bir. i, 69; F. B. I. x, 372. 



A cano-tomentose shrub with spreading branches. Leaves 2-3 in, long, roun- 

 dish-ovate, subcordate, obtuse, unequally toothed, pubescent on both 

 surf acos, white beneath ; petiole Im ; stipules setaceous, about as long 

 as the petioles. Peduncles axillary and terminal, 1-3-flowered, twice as 

 long as the petioles. Bracteoles cordate- ovate, longer than the calyx, 

 recurved at the edges Sepals lanceolate, cuspidate, villous. Petals obo- 

 vate, oblique, longer than the sepals. Qapsule o^-oid, shorter than the 

 calyx, villous. Seeds many in each cell, oblong. 

 Merwara. Disteib. : Rajputana, Western Peninsula, Burma. 

 ' Var. abutiloides. J-rn. (sp.) ; leaves deeply cordate, acute or acumin- 

 ate, membranous, petals! much exceeding the calyx. — Bundelkhand 

 (Edgeworth), Gwalior district (Maries.) Disteib. : Punjab and W. 

 Peninsula. 



2. M. futteyporensis, Munro ex Mast, in F, B. I. i, 373. M. Hamil- 

 toniana, Munro Hort. Agrens. 9 {not of Wall). 



A coarse pubescent shrub. Leaves 3 in. long, oblong, cordate, acumi- 

 nate, serrate ; petiole lin. ; stipules setaceous. Pedt»?cles axillary and 

 terminal, 2-4- flowered, twice the length of the petiole. Bracteoles equal- 

 ling the calyx, cordate-oblong, acute, margins recurved. Flowers 1 in. 

 across. Sepals lanceolate, cuspidate. Capsule ^ in., oblong, villous, 

 a little shorter than the sepals. 



Fattehpur-Sikri near Agra (Munro), Delhi (Falconer), Bundelkhand 

 (Edgeworth), Merwara. Disteib.: Sindh, Punjab. 



3. M. tomentosa, Stocks ex Mast, in F. B. T. i, 373. 



.A cano-tomentose shrub. Leaves about 2 in. long, oblong-lanceolate, 

 cordate, crenate-serrate, thinly stellate-hairy above, paler and softly 

 pubescent beneath ; petiole | in. Peduncles 2-3-flowered, in terminal 

 cymes, about equalling the leaves. Bracteoles i in., oblong-lanceolate, 

 cuspidate, shorter than the sepals, margins not recurved. Sepals | in., 

 oblong, cuspidate, tomentose. Capsule oblong, villous, shorter than the 

 calyx. Seeds muricate, angled. 



.Delhi (Falconer). Disteib. : Punjab, Sindh, Nimar dist. C. Prov. Nearly 

 allied to M. fiotteyporensis, but with much smaller flowers. 



7. MELOCHIA, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. i, 373. 



Herbs or undershrubs, more or less downy. Leaves simple. 

 Flowers small, clustered or loosely paricled. Sepah 5, connate 

 l)elow. Petals 5, spathulate, marcescent. Stamens 5, opposite to 

 the petals, connate below into a tube ; anther-lobes parallel, extrorBe» 

 ■Staminodes 0. Ovary sessile, 5-celled ; cells opnosite the petals, 2- 

 ovuled ; stples 5 free or connate at the base. Capsvle loculicidally 

 i'S-valved. Seeds ascending, albuminous. — Species about 60, found in 

 the warmer regions of both hemispheres. 



