ANoVembeSf '}    The  Apocynacece  in  Materia  Medica,  545 
base.  The  flowers  are  accompanied  by  bracts  ;  they  are  said  to  be 
white  on  the  exterior;  yellow  with  streaks  of  purple  on  the  interior. 
The  segments  of  the  hairy  calyx  are  linear,  and  their  lobes  attain 
to  or  even  exceed  the  border  of  the  tube  of  the  corolla.  This  in- 
formation becomes  necessary  at  least  for  the  comparison  with  S. 
Kombe. 
The  fruits  in  the  fresh  state  are  formed  of  two  follicles  very  di- 
vergent at  maturity.  The  shape  is  much  elongated,  attenuated  to  a 
point  at  the  extremity,  with  an  irregular  cupuliform  stigma  terminal.. 
The  surface  is  a  dark  green.  A  transverse  section  of  the  carpellary 
leaf  shows  that  the  margins  of  the  leaf  are  coalesced  on  a  level- 
with  the  ventral  suture  of  the  carpel ;  these  extend  in  the  interior' 
nearly  as  far  as  the  mid  vein,  then  divert  in  an  arc  to  each  side,, 
forming  thus  a  vast  placentary  surface  upon  which  nearly  200  seeds 
are  emplanted  by  their  funicules,  which  cross,  before  it  arrives 
at  the  ovule,  a  thin  yellow  membrane,  covering  the  placentas. 
The  fruit  arrives  at  maturity  about  July  ;  in  September,  the  des- 
iccation finished,  the  fruit  falls  to  the  ground  ancf  the  wind  disperses 
the  seeds.  The  dehiscence  is  along  the  ventral  suture.  The  fruit 
is  hard,  ligneous  and  resistent.  The  length  varies  greatly.  When 
well  developed  and  preserved  with  the  attenuated  upper  extremity, 
which  is  frequently  broken  off,  it  attains  a  length  of  50  centimetres, 
at  other  times  hardly  one-half.  The  shape  is  generally  a  very 
elongated  spindle,  much  inflated  about  the  middle  if  the  dehiscence 
is  much  advanced.  The  upper  extremity  attenuated  lengthily  and 
terminated  by  a  small,  irregular,  stigmatic  plate  with  sinous  border. 
The  lower  extremity  is  strongly  notched  toward  the  insertion  of 
the  peduncle  and  the  indenting  is  ordinarily  bordered  by  a  rugose 
ridge  quite  marked.  The  cleft  is  longitudinal  and  ventral,  very 
long  and  extends  little  by  little,  and  finishes  by  separating  and 
spreading  completely  the  carpels  at  the  base  but  not  at  the  summit. 
At  the  time  spread,  the  carpels  attain  4  centimetres  in  breadth,  and 
about  1  y2  centimetres  in  diameter. 
The  external  surface  is  strongly  wrinkled  lengthwise  by  the  drying, 
the  color  is  blackish-brown,  often  deeply  and  sometimes  a  little 
greyish  or  reddish,  always  dull ;  the  striations  in  series  and  quite 
fine.  The  lenticels  are  ordinarily  very  numerous,  the  form  rounded, 
the  color  dirty  white  or  russet,  about  the  base  brown.  The  surface  of 
the  fruit  is  entirely  glabrous.  The  dehiscence  commences  at  the  mo- 
