€ANSJEiiA.J OLACINFJE. 155 



covered by the acciescent flesbj calyx. Stone criistaceons, 1 -celled, 

 l-seeded. JEmbryo minnte, in the apex of albumen. — Species about 

 30, inhabiting the tropics of the Old World. 



A prickly climlaer, flowers in racemes . . .1.0. scandens. 

 A small undershrub ; peduncles solitary, 1 -flowered i\ 0. nana. 



1. O. scandens, Boxb. PI. Corom. ii. 2, 1. 102 ; Fl. hid. i, 163 ; W. Sf A. 

 Trod, 89 ; I>. 4" ^. Bomb. Fl. 27 ; Brand. For. Fl. 75 ; F. \B. I. i, 575 ; 

 WaU E. D. 



A stout prickly climber. Leaves distichous, ovate-oblong. Flowers 

 small, white, in short axillary racemes. Fertile stamens 3. Drupe 

 globose or ovoid, more than half inclosed in the enlarged calyx, yellow, 

 fleshy. 



Hohilkhand and Northern Oudh, usiially in damp shady places or near 

 rivers. Distbtb.: Sub-Himalayan tract in Kumaon, Chota Nagpur, C. 

 and S. India, Ceylon, Burma ; also in Java. Flowers during the cold 

 season. As a climber it is very destructive to trees. 



2. O. nana, Wall. Cat. 6783 ; Boyle III. 123 ; Brand.XFor. Fl. 75; F. B. 



I.i,576; WattE.D. 



A small undershrub, with a contracted woody stock, from which herba- 

 ceous rod-like shoots are annually produced during the rainy season. 

 Leaves nearly sessile, lanceolate, glabrous, glaucous beneath, margins re- 

 curved. Peduncles solitary, 1-flowered. Fertile stamens 3, opposite 

 the petals, shorter than the staminodes. Fruit small, globular. 



■Siwalik range, Eohilkhand, N. Oudh, and Gorakhpur. Distrib.: In hot 

 valleys of the W. Himalaya, from the Punjab to Nepal, ascending to 

 5,000 ft.; also in Bengal. This is one of those remarkable plants, which 

 like Greiuia sapida, Combretum nanum, etc., have become normally 

 dwarfed owing to periodical jungle-fires. The flowers appear during 

 April and May. The leaves turn black when drying. 



2. CANSJERA, Juss. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. i. 582. 



Climbing sbvubs, sometimes spin v. Leaves alternate, shortly peti- 

 oled, i -nerved. Floner.< biacteate, in dense axillary spikes, mono- 

 chlamydeous, hermaphrodite. Feriantli regular, 4-5-parted, lobes 

 valvate. Fertile stomens 4-5, alternating with 4-5-ovoid or sub- 

 trian2;ular staminodes. Ovary frtie, ovoid-conical, 1-celled ; style 

 cylindric ; stigma Cripitate, 4-lobed ; ovule solitary, pendulous. 

 Fruit a drupe, siirToutided at the base by the msrcescent perianth. 

 Stone bony. Seed solitary, erect ; embryo in the apex of fleshy 

 albumen. — Species 3-4, natives of Tropical Asia and Australia. 



This genus, by reason of the flowers having only a single perianth, has 



by some authors been placed in TiiymelacecB. 



C. Rheedii, Gmel. 8vst. i, 280 ; Boyle III. 321 ; Brand. For. Fl. 75 ; F, 

 £. l.i, 582. 0. scandens, Boxh. ; Fl. Ind. i, 441. 



