380 
CONTKIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
divaricata ; anthera omnino introrsae, dorso adnatse, 2-lob8e, 
lobis ovatis, paulo dissitis, parallelis, sulco longitudinali de- 
hiscentibus. 
Suffrutex Madagascariensis, suhhumilis, ramosus ; ramuli sub- 
tenues, tomentosi; folia ohlonga, imo rotundata, apice obtusa, 
penninervia, nervis inter se ubique anastomosantibus, hinc 
grosse reticulatis, supra subpilosa, subtus pubescentia, petiolo 
tenui, subbrevi : paniculis ^ racemosis, in axillis supremis soli- 
tariis, hinc fere terminalibus, ramis brevibus, alternatis, flores 
1-3 brevissime pedicellatos gerentibus ; flos parvus. 
Rhaptonenia cancellata, nob. ; — ramulis teretibus, ferrugineo- 
tomentosis ; foliis oblongis, irao rotundatis^ apice obtusis et 
cuspidato-mucronatis, penninerviis, nervis plurimis, inter se 
ubique anastomosantibus, hinc cancellato-reticulatis, supra 
dense viridibus, subpilosis, in costa media nervisque sulcatis, 
subtus pi’sesertim in nervis valde prominentibus ferrugineo- 
pubescentibus ; petiolo subtenui, pubescente, limbo 8-plo 
breviore : paniculis ^ racemosis, in axillis superioribus soli- 
tariis, hinc fere terminalibus; rachi tomentosa, ramis sub- 
paucis, brevibus, alternis, flores 1-3 brevissime pedicellatos 
apice gerentibus; sepalis 9, expansis, subsequalibus, 6 exte- 
rioribus extus pilosis, 3 interioribus ad nervum medianum 
pubescentibus. — In Madagascar : v. s. in herb. Hook., Mada- 
gascar (Gerard, 18). 
This is said to be a shrub 4 feet high or more. It has some- 
what slender tomentose branchlets, with axils 1-2 inches apart ; 
the leaves are conspicuous for their peculiar nervation, 3-4 inches 
long, 1|-1| inch broad, on a petiole 5-6 lines long; the axillary 
racemose panicle is 1^ inch long, its alternate branchlets, l|-2 
lines apart, are 1-2 lines long, each supporting about three 
flowers, 14 Hue in diameter when expanded, and upon very 
short pedicels. 
62. SOMPHOXYLON. 
This genus was established by Dr.Eichler, in Martins’s ‘ Flora 
Brasiliensis,’ upon a scandent plant from Dutch Guiana; but 
its characters are not all fully known. One of its peculiari- 
ties, which suggested its generic name, is that its wood is 
extremely soft and spongious. Its leaves are rather large, 
6-9 inches long, 4-7^ inches broad, on a petiole 4 inches long, 
somewhat penninerved and glabrous. The $ inflorescence is a 
widely spreading panicle, 2 feet long, 1| foot broad, with its 
branches horizontally patent and gradually decreasing upwards; 
