TetrataxisJ] 
LYTHRACEJE. 
101 
Capsule 4-celled, with the valves breaking away from the placentas. 
Seeds many, minute, linear-oblong. A single species 
1. T. salicifolia, Baker . A shrub, glabrous in all its parts, with 
quadranglar branches. Leaves opposite, short-petioled, ovate-lanceo- 
late, acute, 2-3 in. long, rigidly subcoriaceous, penninerved. Flowers 
1-3, on erect axillary peduncles an inch long, with a pair of linear-oblong 
caducous bracteoles to each. Sepals ovate, \ inch broad, the tube 4- 
winged and wings decurrent down the pedicel. Style exceeding the 
stamens. Tetradia salicifolia, Thouars; Tulasne in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. iv, 
vol. 6, 137. 
Mauritius, in the woods of the Riviere Noire, Thouars . Endemic. The generic 
name used by Du Petit Thouars is pre-occupied by Robert Brown. 
4. PEMPHIS, Forst. 
Calyx-tube campanulate, with 12 distinct ribs ; teeth 6, deltoid with 
a spur in each sinus. Petals 6, inserted at the throat of the calyx. 
Stamens 12, biseriate, inserted low down in the calyx-tube ; filaments 
filiform ; anthers oblong. Ovary globose, included in the calyx-tube, 
short-stalked, 3-celled at the base ; style filiform ; stigma capitate. 
Capsule globose, hidden in the persistent calyx, splitting round near 
the base ; placenta basilar. Seeds numerous. A single species. 
1. P. acidula, Forst. ; DC. Prod. 3, 89. A much-branched shrub, 
2-4 feet high, with terete branchlets. Leaves crowded, short-petioled, ob- 
long or lanceolate, f-1 in. long, subcoriaceous, 1-nerved, rather silky. 
Flowers solitary, from the axils of the leaves, on short hairy pedicels. 
Calyx £ in. long, prominently grooved. Petals white, crumpled, ob- 
ovate-unguiculate, as long as the calyx, deciduous. Capsule crustaceous, 
fragile, as large as the calyx-tube. P. angustifolia, Boxb. 
Mauritius, on tbe shore at Baie du Cap, Canonier point, etc. Flat and Amber 
Islands, Horne ! Rodriguez, common on the limestone cliffs of the shore, Balfour ! 
Spread through the tropics of the Old World. 
5. PSILOXYLON, Thouars. 
Flowers polygamous, regular. Calyx-tube hemispherical ; lobes 5, 
round, slightly imbricated. Petals 5, round, unguiculate, perigynous. 
Stamens 10, springing from the edge of a broad pentagonal disk ; fila- 
ments filiform ; anthers oblong, bilocular. Ovary entirely superior, oblong, 
3-celled ; ovules indefinite in each cell ; stigma large, 3-lobed, subses- 
sile. Fruit a small globose berry. Seeds minute, exalbuminous ; 
embryo straight, fleshy. A single species. 
1. P. mauritianum, Baill. Adans x. 41. A shrub, glabrous in all 
its parts, with terete branchlets. Leaves alternate, short-petioled, 
