Tab. B.

TABERNÆMONTANA GRANDIFLORA.
CLASS AND ORDER—PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
Natural Order—Apocyneæ.

Gen. Char. Contorta. Corolla hypocrateriformis; tubus angulato-strictus, basi subglobosus. Folliculi 2, horizontales. Semina pulpæ immersa (Fol. opposita).

Tabernæmontana Africana, foliis ovato-lanceolatis oppositis, floribus axillaribus solitariis: tubo corollæ spiraliter torto, medio inflato.

Hab. Kacundy.

Arbor mediocris vel Frutex, ramis subdeclinatis.

Folia opposita, ovato-lanceolata, basi apiceque subalterneata, integerrima, glabra, nervosa, nervis parallelis.

Flores solitarii, axillares, versus apicem ramorum, pedunculati. Pedunculus longiusculus, crassus.

Calyx quinquepartitus, inferus, persistens; segmentis ovatis, obtusis.

Corolla hypocrateriformis, magna, speciosa, alba. Tubus spiraliter tortus, versis medium inflatus. Limbus quinquepartitus, segmentis oblongo-lanceolatis, obtusissimis planis, oblique tortis: ore nudo.

Stamina quinque, medio tubi inserta. Filamenta lata, tubo adherentia, marginibus ciliatis. Antheræ sagittatæ, flavæ, circa stigma conniventes.

Pistillum unicum, corollæ dimidio brevius. Germen duplex. Styli duo, filiformes, basi distincti, apice unito, paululum dilatati. Stigma incrassatum, subcylindraceum, basi dilatatum, apice quinquelobum, lobis erectis.

Pericarpium: Folliculi? vel potius baccæ duæ, ovato-rotundatæ, patentes, acuminatæ, basi calyce cinctæ, uniloculares, polyspermæ.

Semina plana, stricta, receptaculo centrali affixa.

Fig. 1. Branch, natural size. Fig. 2. Lower part of the tube laid open to shew the stamens. Fig. 3. Pistil. Fig. 4. Stigma. Fig. 5. Section of the upper part of the Style. Fig. 6. Fruit (natural size). Fig. 7. Section of the same. All but figures 1 and 7 more or less magnified.

This appears to be a very different species of Tabernæmontana, if indeed it really belongs to that genus, from any hitherto described. In the persistent calyx, this plant seems to depart from the character of Tabernæmontana, as it is defined by Jussieu; and also in the tube of the corolla, which is not inflated at the base, but near the middle, and is moreover singularly spirally twisted with deep furrows, if we may judge from the drawing.

G. Scharf Lithog: Printed by C. Hullmandel.

Tabernæmontana grandiflora.

[(Large-size)]