Volume 10 — PLATE DCXXXIV. PELIOSANTHES HUMILIS. Humble Peliosanthes.

CLASS VI. ORDER I.

HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Six Stamens. One Style.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx nullus. Corolla 6-partita, subrotata; laciniis lato-ovatis, obtusis. Nectarium corollâ triplo brevius, incrassatum, integrum. Stamina sub ore nectarii affixa. Filamenta subnulla. Stylus brevissimus, obtusè trigonus. Stigma depressum. Germen inferum, 3-loculare; loculis dispermis. Bacca? subovata, carnosa.

Cup none. Blossom 6-parted, nearly wheel-shaped; the segments broadly ovate, blunt. Nectary three times shorter than the corolla, fleshy, entire. Stamens affixed under the mouth of the nectary. Filaments scarcely any. Style short, bluntly three-sided. Stigma depressed. Germen below, three-celled; the cells two-seeded. The fruit fleshy, nearly oval.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Peliosanthes foliis elliptico-lanceolatis subseptemnerviis scapo longioribus; bracteis flores æquantibus; racemo subovato.

Peliosanthes with elliptic-lanced seven-nerved leaves longer than the scape; the bracts equalling the flowers in length, and the bunch ovate.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

This is one of the species referred to in our description No. 605, and flowered last November in the collection of T. Evans, Esq. at Stepney; where we were informed, that it grows naturally in shady woods in Pinang, or Prince of Wales’s Island, and was introduced to this country in 1808. Its beauty is certainly far inferior to the Bengal species, with which however it agrees very well in essential characters; but the nectary here nearly resembles a little cup, and is not contracted above, as in that species. The height of the plant above ground is only about two inches.