C ) sharin' a.] 
LI. MYRTACE.B. 
645 
hemispherical cotyledons longer than the radicle. — Shrub. Leaves opposite, 
penniveined. Flowers small, sessile, solitary in the axils or terminal and three 
together. Bracteoles deciduous. 
The genus is limited to the single Australian species, and shows no immediate affinity to any 
other one. except in some measure to Backhousia. — Benth. 
1. O. octodonta (calyx-teeth eight), F. r. M. Fratjm. iii. 81 ; Benth. FI. 
Austr. iii. 271. A bushy shrub, glabrous except the flowers. Leaves obovate- 
oblong, very obtuse, f to l^in. long, much narrowed into a very short petiole, 
thickened at the base, and leaving a contraction at the nodes when they fall off. 
Flowers sessile, solitary in the axils between 2 concave deciduous tomentose 
bracteoles, or 3 together at the ends of the branches. Calyx white with a close 
tomentum or short down, tube narrow, 2 to 2| lines long ; lobes shorter, oblong, 
very obtuse, much imbricate in the bud. Fruit apparently dry, but not hard. 
Hab.: Islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria ; Trinity Bay ; amongst the mangroves along the 
tropical coast. 
Wood of a dark colour, close in grain, and very hard. — Bailey’s Cat. Ql. Woods No. 213a. 
23. -PSIDIUM, Linn. 
(From the Greek name of the Pomegranate.) 
Calyx urceolate or obovate ; limb undivided in (estivation, separating valvately 
into 4 to 5 lobes when in flower. Petals 4 or 5, free. Stamens numerous. 
Ovary 2 or more celled, with many ovules in each cell. Berry many-seeded. 
Seeds with hard testa ; embryo curved, radicle long, cotyledons short. — Trees or 
shrubs with opposite entire leaves, and often large white flowers. 
1. P. guyava, Linn.; Benth. FI. Hongk.; Hook. FI. Brit. Ind. ii. 468. 
The Large Guava. A small tree with tetragonal pubescent branches. Bark 
thin, peeling off in thin flakes. Leaves on short petioles, ovate or oblong, 3 to 
6in. long, nearly glabrous above, pubescent beneath, with the principal nerves 
prominent. Peduncles axillary, 1 to 3-flowered ; buds ovoid in the adnate part, 
the free part also ovoid, but larger and more or less pointed. Petals broad. 
Fruit globose or pear-shaped. 
Hab.: Naturalised in many Queensland scrubs ; very abundant in the Mackay district, H. L. 
Griffith. 
This tree is also naturalised in India. According to Gamble, the bark is used as an astringent 
medicine and (or the leaves) for dyeing in Assam; and the wood, which weighs from 44 to 471b. 
per cubic foot, is used for wood-engraving and for tool-handles. 
24. RHODOMYRTUS, DC. 
(Rose-myrtles.) 
Calyx-tube turbinate, oblong or nearly globular, scarcely or not at all produced 
above the ovary ; lobes 4 or 5, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 4 or 5, spreading. 
Stamens numerous in several series, free ; filaments filiform ; anthers versatile or 
attached near the base, with parallel cells opening longitudinally. Ovary really 
1, 2, or 3-celled, with several ovules in 2 rows in each cell, but owing to spurious 
dissepiments interposed between the ovules, appearing either 2, 4, or 6-celled or 
divided into numerous 1-ovulatcd cells superposed in 2, 4, or 6 rows ; style fili- 
form, with the stigma usually peltate. Fruit a berry or almost a drupe, globular, 
ovoid, or cylindrical, divided into 1-seeded cells or nuts superposed in 2 to 6 or 
almost in a single row. Seeds compressed, reniform, or nearly orbicular, with a 
hard testa ; embryo horseshoe-shaped or ring-shaped, with a long radicle and 
very small cotyledons. — Trees or shrubs more or less tomentose or villous. 
