Polyalthia
(from polys, much, and althecis, healthy; alluding to supposed properties of the plant). ORD. Anonaceae. A genus comprising about thirty species (including twenty-five which are sometimes classed with Guatteria) of stove or greenhouse trees or shrubs, natives of tropical Asia, one being Australian. Flowers solitary or fasciculate, axillary or opposite the leaves; sepals three, valvate or rarely loosely imbricate; petals six, bi-seriately valvate, flat, almost equal, ovate or narrow. Leaves oblique, penniveined. The two species described below are the only ones worth mention. They are stove trees. For culture, see Guatteria.
P. cerasoides (Cherry-like). fl., peduncles axillary, solitary; petals nearly equal. l. lanceolate, acute, pubescent beneath. h. 60ft. East Indies, 1820. P. suberosa (corky-barked). fl., three outer petals greenish, the three inner ones whitish; peduncles nearly opposite the leaves, one-flowered. l. oblong, acute, smooth. h. 30ft. India, 1820.