146 
RTTBIACEiE. 
[. Plectronia . 
Leaves deltoid at the base. 
Umbels from the axils of the leaves. 
Corolla £ in. long 4. P. acuminata. 
Corolla in. long 5. P. carinata. 
Umbels from leafless nodes 6. P. trilocularis. 
1. P. bibracteata, Baker. A much-branched shrub, with glabrous 
terete braiichlets. Leaves turning black in drying, distinctly petioled, 
oblong, acute, subcoriaceous, 3-4 in. long, rounded or cuneate at the 
base ; stipules lanceolate acuminate, firm. Flowers in dense short 
peduncled axillary umbels, subtended by a pair of small linear bracts ; 
pedicels exceeding the calyx. Calyx minute, turbinate, with an ob- 
scurely-toothed limb. Corolla -§- in. long ; lobes 4, oblong-lanceolate, 
thick ; throat densely pilose. Stamens minute, with a short filament. 
Stigma capitate. Fruit not seen. 
Mauritius, Sieber, ii. 247 ! Seychelles, in the woods of Mahe, Perville, 82 ! 
Wright , 58 ! Horne , 255, 520 ! We have it also from Johanna Island, from Bojer, under 
the unpublished name of Pyrostria comorensis , and from Madagascar as Psathura 
macrophylla ; and it is closely allied to the Mascaren Pyrostria umbellata , Bojer, 
Hort. Maur. 170, which is cultivated in Mauritius. Also Zanzibar. Bois dur , 
(Seych). 
2. P. viburnoides. Baker. A glabrous shrub, with slender terete 
branches. Leaves sessile, subcoriaceous, shining, subacute, 2-3 in. long, 
broadly rounded or subcordate at the base ; stipules small, deltoid. 
Flowers in dense sessile axillary fascicles. Calyx broadly funnel-shaped, 
i in. long ; teeth deltoid, acute, as long as tube. Corolla hypocrateriforin, 
i in. long; lobes 4, spreading, lanceolate, rather shorter than the 
tube ; throat very hairy. Anthers subsessile at the throat of the 
corolla, with the connective produced beyond the top of the cells. 
Stigma slightly lobed. Fruit not seen. 
Mauritius. Four specimens in the Kew herbarium, two from Mr. Duncan 
marked “ Native,” and two from the herbarium of Judge Blackburn. Dr. Balfour 
gathered a closely allied species in Bourbon. 
3. P. celastroides, Baker. An erect shrub 10-12 feet high, 
glabrous in all its parts, with slender terete branches. Leaves ovate- 
oblong, 3-5 in. long, 2-3^ in. broad below the middle, obtuse or sub- 
acute, rounded or broad-deltoid at the base, subcoriaceous, with 4-5- 
jugate very distinct erecto-patent main veins ; stipules deciduous ; 
petioles channelled, in. long. Flowers 6-10 together in umbels 
which are sessile in the axils of the leaves, on raised nodules ; pedicels 
slender, flexuose, under ^ in. long. Calyx in. long, campanulate, 
obscurely toothed. Corolla in. long, white, the 5 lanceolate lobes 
much exceeding the tube. Fruit a 2-3-lobed obovoid naked horny 
capsule under \ in. long, with rugose horny valves, depressed at the 
apex and with a linear keel between the lobes. 
Seychelles, common in the damp shady forests of Mahe at an elevation of 
about 2000 feet, Horne, 403 ! 508 ! Endemic. 
