181 
No. 30. 
Rhodosphcera rhodanthema, Engler. 
A Yellow Wood. 
(Natural Order ANACARDIACE^E.) 
Botanical description.— Genus, Rhodosphcera, Engler, in Bot.Juhrb. i, 423. 
(Following is a translation from A. et C. De Candolle, Monographic 
Bhanerogamarum, Yol. iv, p. 234-5 : Anacardiacete by Engler.) 
Flow* rs .—Polygamo-dioecious. 
Calyx-segnu nts .—5, imbricate. 
Petals. —5, erect, imbricate. 
Stamens. —10 (in the female flowers shorter), filaments subulate; anther obtuse on both ends, 
longitudinally dehiscent, of equal length. 
Disc .—Short, cup-shaped, slightly 10-crenate. 
Ovarium. —Sessile, nearly globular ; ovules solitary, suspended from a shortly ascending basal 
funicule. 
Styles ,—-3, free, spreading, stigma capitate, provided with a blunt point. 
Drupe. —Globose, the epicarp chartaceous, very smooth, the mesocarp thick and woody, the 
cndocarp thinner and long, compressed. 
Seed. —-Ovoid, compressed, the testa thin, membranous. 
Embryo .—-Without albumen ; cotyledons flat, the radicle short, superior. 
Leaves. —Tmpari-pinnate, subcoriaceous, slightly pubcrulous above; leaflets shortly petiolulate. 
Flowers. —Small, red, numerous, densely crowded in axillary and terminal pyramidal panicles. 
Botanical description. —Species, R. rhodanthema, Engler. in Bat. Jahrb. 
i, 423. 
Tree, 20-25 metres high. 
Leaves .—About 2 dm. long, with 3 to 4 pairs of leaflets, the space between the leaflets 2 cm. 
long, the petiole of the leaflets 2-3 mm. long, oblong, shortly acuminate, obtuse, 6 to 7 cm. 
long, 5 to 2i cm. broad, the upper half somewhat broader than the lower half, the lateral 
nerves underneath prominent, nearly parallel. 
Panicle. —Pyramidal, densely flowered, minutely pubcrulous, up to 1 dm. long, secondary branches 
horizontally spreading, the lowest 3J to 4 cm. long, the pedicels scarcely 1 mm. long. 
Calyx-segments. — 1 mm. long. 
Petals. —2 mm. long, 1 mm. broad, reddish. 
Stamens. —Scarcely 1 mm. long. 
Drupe. —Cherry-shaped, globular, reddish-brown, shining, H cm. in diameter, the endocarp 1 cm. 
in the thickest diameter. (Translated, op. cit) 
