FLORA OF THE MAURITIUS AND 
THE SEYCHELLES. 
Order I. RANUNCULACEJE. 
Sepals 5 or fewer, petaloid when the petals are absent. Petals in a 
single row, absent in Clematis. Stamens indefinite, free, hypogynous. 
Carpels indefinite. Ovules anatropous, solitary or many. Fruit apocar- 
pous, usually dry, of few or many achenes or follicles, rarely a berry. 
Seeds small, with copious albumen and a minute embryo. — Com- 
monly herbs with alternate palmate or 3-foliolate leaves. Clematis 
is exceptional by its shrubby habit, and opposite leaves. Distbib. 
Species variously estimated from 600 to 1200, chiefly inhabitants of 
the north temperate zone. 
1. CLEMATIS, Linn. 
Sepals 4, petaloid, valvate-induplicate. Petals 0. Stamens indefinite ; 
anthers small, oblong, adnate. Carpels indefinite, in a dense sessile 
head. Fruit of small achenes, with usually long beautifully feathered 
tails. — Shrubs with opposite petioled, usually compound leaves, 
climbing habit, solitary or panicled axillary or terminal flowers, with 
a tendency to become polygamous. Distbib. All temperate countries, 
rarer in the tropics. Species about 100. 
1. C. mauritiana, Lam.; DC. Prod. i. 6. A glabrous climbing shrub. 
Leaves petioled; leaflets ternate, ovate, acute, stalked, dentate. Flowers 
3-5, on long lax pedicels on axillary peduncles as long as the petiole. 
Sepals oblong, ^ in. long, dull purple, with a matted grey border where 
they incurve in bud. Achenes with a feathered tail in. long. — 
Deless. Ic. Sel. t. 2. C. triflora, Vahl. C. Sonneratii, Pers. 
Mauritius. Common in woods and thickets, from the sea level to a height of 
2000 feet. Also Bourbon and Madagascar. Vigne Vierge. 
Order II. DILLENIACEiE. 
Sepals 5, much imbricated, persistent. Petals 2-7, usually 5, 
Stamens many, free or connate at base ; anthers adnate, dehiscing 
B 
