290 
MOIUMIACEJE. 
[. Monimia . 
2. M. rotundifolia, Thouars ; A. DC. Prod, xy i. 2, 661. Habit of 
M. ovali/olia, but tbe hairs of the branches, petioles and outside of the 
perianth denser and more spreading. Leaves nearly round, 2-5 in. 
diam., green and softly pilose above, thinly white tomentose and reticu- 
lato-venose beneath. Flowers of both sexes in shortly peduncled 
lateral cymes ; pedicels densely pilose, as long as the obovoid unex- 
panded female perianth. Expanded male flowers -j-f in. across, split- 
ting down nearly to the base. 
Mauritius, in the woods of Flacq, and Savanne. Also Bourbon. 
Order LXXXYI. LAURAC M. 
Flowers hermaphrodite, monoicous or polygamo-dioicons. Perianth 
subcorolline, deeply 4-6-cleft, with imbricate aestivation. Stamens 
perigynous, usually definite, often abortive (staminodes) and some 
with 1 or 2 basal glands ; anthers 2-4-celled, opening by flaps except 
in Hernandia. Ovary free, 1-celled ; ovule solitary, pendulous ; style 
simple ; stigma capitate. Fruit indehiscent, fleshy, girt at the base by 
the persistent perianth-tube. Seed exalbuminous. — Trees or shrubs, 
with coriaceous entire exstipulate usually alternate leaves {Cassytha is a 
twining leafless parasite), minute panicled or racemose greenish, 
yellowish or white flowers, which like the bark are usually more or 
less fragrant. Distrib. Cosmopolitan in the tropics. Species 900. 
Anthers opening by 2-4 flaps. 
Leafy erect shrubs or trees. 
Flowers not in umbels. 
Fertile stamens 9 and also 3 staminodes present. 
Leaves opposite, triplinerved * Cinnamomum. 
Leaves alternate, feather- veined * Persba. 
Fertile stamens 9 ; staminodes 0 1. Mespilodaphne. 
Flowers in umbels surrounded by an involucre ... * Tetranthera. 
Leafless twining parasites 2. Cassytha. 
Anthers not opening by flaps 3. Hernandia. 
* The true Cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum , Breyn. ; Meissn. in 
DC. Prod. xv. 13 ; Wight, Ic. t. 123, a native of Ceylon, is now plenti- 
fully naturalised both in Mauritius and the Seychelles. It may be 
recognised by its opposite oblong very coriaceous shining 3-nerved 
leaves, lax panicles with corymbose branches, silky 6-fid perianth of 
which the lobes in the fruiting stage break away near the base, 9 
antheriferous stamens of which the inner three have a pair of glands 
at the base, 3 staminodes and small oblong fruit girt by the perianth 
at the base only. It forms a tree 20 to 30 feet high. Cannellier. 
# Per sea gratis sima, Gaertn.; Meissn. in DC. Prod. xv. 52; Wight 
Ic. t. 1823 ; Bot. Mag. tab. 4580, the well-known Avocado pear, a 
native of tropical America, is now subspontaneous in Mauritius, Sey- 
chelles and Rodriguez. It is a tree 30-40 feet high, with long-petioled 
