MALPIGHI ACF..K. 
145 
uatlng with the teeth of the calyx, valvular, each with a bifid 
(?) plaited scale at the base. Stamens 10, rather longer than 
the petals, slightly monadelphous at the base. Ovary globular, 
sub-3-gonal : styles 3, very short : stigmata capitate. Drupe 
oblong, obsoletely 3-gonal, scarlet, resembling the fruit of the 
Barberry , 1 -seeded: seed costate, especially on one side. 
This shrubby tree ripens its fruit in May, when, from its 
numerous bright scarlet berries, it readily attracts notice. 
ORDER XXXIX. MALPIGHI ACEAE. 
Calycine sepals 5, slightly combined, persistent. 
Petals 5 , alternate with the lobes of the calyx, inserted 
on a hypogynous disk, clawed. Stamens 10, alter- 
nate with the petals. Ovary 1, generally 3-lobed, 
formed of 3 carpels, more or less combined : styles 3, 
distinct or combined into 1 . Fruit dry or berried, 
3-celled or 3-lobed ; cells 1 -seeded. Seeds pendu- 
lous, without albumen : embryo more or less curved 
or straight : radicle short : lobes leafy or thickish. 
Shrubs or trees. Leaves opposite, scarcely ever alternate, 
without dots, generally furnished with stipules. Flowers race- 
mose or corymbose. Pedicels articulated about the middle, 
with a pair of minute bracteas. Almost exclusively natives of 
intertropical America. The fruits of a few of the species are 
edible. The bark of Malpigiiia Moureila, is, according to 
Aublet, employed in Cayenne as a substitute for bark. With 
these exceptions, no remarkable properties can be assigned to 
any of the Tribe. 
I. Malpigiiia. 
Calyx 5-partite, furnished externally at the base 
with 8-10 glandules. Petals clawed. Stamens with 
filaments shortly monadelphous at the base. Styles 
3, distinct. Drupe containing 3 one-seeded stones. 
Shrubs. Peduncles axillary', either one-flowered or bearing 
umbellated pedicels. — Named, by Plunder, in honour of Mar- 
cello Malpighi, Professor of Medicine .at Bologna, author of the 
Anatomia Plantarum, published in 1765 and 1769. 
von. i. i. 
