140 ANIiALS OP THE EOYAL BOTANIC GAEDEN, CALCUTTA.
18. Melodoeum psismaticum,..Hbo/,:. JiL ^ Thorns. Fhra Ind. 121. A large creeper;
young branches glabrous, dark-coloured. Leaves coriaceous, obloug, elliptic-oblong, rarely
obovate-obloug, abruptly and shortly acuminate; the base broad, rounded; upper
surfacc glabrous except the minutely ptibcrulous midi-ib; lower surface glaucous,
reticulate, finely pubescent, especially on the midrib; main nerves 12 to 18 pau-s,
spreading, faint especially near the tip, the secondary nerves prominent; length 4-5
to 8-5 in., breadth 2-3 to 3-3 in.; petiole -o to -7 in. Flowers I'o to 2 in. long, axillary,
solitary; pedicels -3 to -6 in. long, rufous-tomentose, -».ith 1 large bractcole above
the middle and several smaller near the base. Sefals quite connate into a flat
obtusely 3-arrgled disk, -3 in, broad, pubescent outside, glabrous and tubercled inside.
Petals very thick; the outer linear-lanceolate, I'o to 2 in. long, triquetrous, rufoustomentose
outside, puberulous inside; the inner thinner and only about -3 in. long,
triangular, ridged outside, much excavated and glabrous at the base irrside; other-svise
puberulous. Stamens numerous, with very short filaments; anthers Knear; apex of
coimective obUquely triangular. Ooaries elongate, oblong, tapering to the apex, shortly
pubcscent; o™les about 14, in two rows; style short, lateral; stigma sub-capitate,
lobulate. Ripe earpeh ovoid, blunt, tubercnlate, pubendous, becoming sub-glabrous,
1-4 in. long and -8 in, in diam. ; stalks -8 to 1 in., stout. Seals in two rows,
horizontal, compressed, oval, black, shining. Soak. Jll. Fl. Br. hid. i, 81 ; Miq. Fl.
lud. Bat. i. f t . 2, 36; King in Jaun. As. Soe. Bengal 61, f t . 2, 109.—Pyramidairthe
i-ufa, Ann. Mas. lagd. But. ii. 39.—Uvaria rufa. Wall. Cat. 64oo.—
Oxpnitr-a bassiasfolia, legm. and Binnin. in Tijdseh. Ned. Ind. xxv. (1803) 419.
Penang, Malacca, Perak, Singapore: common. Distrib.—Borneo.
Authentic specimens both of Pgramiianthe mfa and of Oxipiutra tassixfolia, T, and
B., show that they unmistakably belong to this species. Specimens of the former from
Bangka and from the Buitenzorg Botanic Garden have, however, their leaves rather
more hairy beneath than is usual in Perak specimens, anil their flowers are also rather
longer.
P l a t e 18o. Melodorum prismaticum, JI. f . ^ Th. 1, Flowering branch; 2, ripe
carpels; 3, flower d i s s e c t e d - . / i i s e ; 4 & o anthers ; 6 & 7 enlarged.
19 Melodoedm m a o e a k t h u j i , Kun in .Tourn. As. Soc. Bengal 1872, f t . ii. 291;
1874 f t ii. 56; For. FL Bunt. i. 42. A small tree; all parts, except the
youn'o- kaf-buds and the flowers, glabrous; young branches dark-coloured, rather
slender, lemes membranous, elliptii-oblong, sometimes slightly obovate, shortly and
abruptly acuminate, the base cuneate; upper surface shining, the lower dull; mam
nerves 12 to 16 pairs, faint and much more prominent than the secondary, forming
a double set of intra-mai-ginal arches; length 6 to 8 in., breadth 2-5 to 3-5 in.;
petiole -3 to -4 in, Floviers solitary, axillary or from the branches below the
leaves 3 to 5 in. long, drooping; pedicels-5 to -To in. long, obscurely bracteolate
at the base onlj'. Sepals broadly' ovate, sub-acute, coriaceous, pubescent at the
edges inside, glabrous outside, connate for half their length, -40 in, long.' Petals
o-rMuish-wbite, becoming yellowish, coriaceous, nan-owly lintar-lanceolate, acummate;
the outer row flat, adpressed-puberulous • with a glabrous patch at the base
inside, 3 to 5 in.' long; the inner row only 1 to .1-25 in. long, cohering by
their edges, vaulted at the base and with a glabrous patch; the limb keeled-inside,
ANONACEJE OP BRITISH INDIA. 141
W i s
puberulous oq both surfaces. Sta7>iena numerous; tlie anthor-cclls linear, elongate;
apical process of connective narrowly ti-iangular, pointed. Ooaries numerous, nan-owly
obiong, adpressed-nifous-pubescent, 4-ovuled; stylo nearly as long as tlio ovaiy,
cylindiic, bent outwards, glabrous; stigma small, slightly bifid. R'pe earpeh oblong,
blunt, tapering at the base, slightly i-ugose, glabrous, 1-25 to 1-5 in. long and about
•5 or -6 in. in diam.; stalk 4 to 'o in. Seeds 1 or 2, compressed, ovoid, smooth.
A'i'n// in Journ. As. Soe. Bengal 61, pt. 2, 110.—Unona macrantha, Kurz in Andain.
Report, Ed. I, A pp. B. /.—Pyramidanthe maci-antlia, Kxwz I. c. Ed. 2, p. 29.
S. Andaman,—Kurz, K'mcfs CoUector.
In some of its diameters {e.g., the erect habit, the fewness of the ovules, and
the thin texture and flatness of the much elongated outer petals) this docs not quite
conform to the characters of typical Melodorum. J3y its thin elongated outer petals,
it approaches the Dasijmaschaion section of Unona ; but the fewness of its ovules
excludes it therefrom. From Xyhpia, which it in some respects resembles, it is
chiefly excluded by the vciy convex torus of its flowers, and by the very pointed
apical appendage of its stamens. The stamens, on the other hand, ai-e those of
Melodorum, and the petals resemble those of 3f. prisjnatiewn- {Pyramidanthc rufa, Miq.)
On the whole, therefore, I thiuk it best to leave this plant in the genus to which
Kurz finally refen-ed it.
Pi-ATE ]S6. Melodorum macranthum, /itirs. 1, Leaf-twig; 2, flowers; 3, fmit nearly
ripe; 4, seed; 5, inner surface of outer petal; 6, inner petals cohering into a cone;
7, sepals and andro-gynceciuni—of nahtral size; 8 & 9, anthers; 10 & 11, pistils—
enlarged.
20. Melodorum elegans, Bool:, fil ^ Thorns. Fl. Ind. 122. A large climber; young
branches slender, pubenilous at first, ultimately glabrous, dai-k-coloured. Leaves thinly
coriaceous, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, slightly narrowed to the rounded base; upper
surface olivaceous when diy, glabrous; lower paler, pubei-ulous, minutely reticulate, the
12 or 13 paii's of main nerves spreading, faint; length 2'5 to 3-o in., breadth 1 to l'2o
in.; petiole -25 to -35 in. Flowei-s axillary, solitaiy or 2 or 3 in a fascicle, -35 to
•65 in. long; pedicels slender, -35 to -6 in. long, often deficxed, mth 2 or 3 minute
basal bracteoles. Sepals ovate, acute, united at the base only, spreading, outside tubercular
and pubescent, inside glabrous and concave, "l in. long. Petals leathery, the outer
i)roadly ovate, sometimes minutely ovate-oblong, silky, rufous-tomentose outside, hoaiypuberulous
within, with a perfectly glabrous patch at the concave base, -35 to -6 in.
long; inner petals only -25 in. long, very thick, triquetrous and puberulous above, concave
and glabrous at the base inside. Stamens numerous, with filainents half as long as the
anther-cells; apical process of connective short, thick, obliquely triangular. Ooaries
narrowly oblong, glabrous, -with 8 ovules in two rows; style short, lateral, liipe carpels
ovoid or ovoid-globose, blunt at each end, glabrous, -35 to '5 in. long; stalks slender,
•25 in. long, compressed, black, shining, pitted. Rook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. i. 82; Miq. FL
Ind. Bat. i. pt. 3, 36; Kin() in JQWH. AS. Soe. Bengal 61, pt. 2, 111.—Uvaria elegans,
Wall. Cat. 6i74A.
This is closely allied to M. fulgeps, H. f. .& T., but its flowers have more slender
and usually longer pedicels; the ovaiy of this is moreover glabrous, while that of
M. fulgens is pubescent, and the carpels of this ai-e under half an inch in length, -w hile