Premna
(from premnon, the stump of a tree; in allusion to the low stems of most species). SYN. Baldingera. ORD. Verbenaceae. A genus comprising upwards of thirty species of glabrous, pubescent, or tomentose, stove shrubs, sub-shrubs, or trees, inhabiting the warmer regions of the Old World. Flowers white or bluish, small, disposed in terminal, trichotomous panicles, or in opposite cymes or clusters, forming a spike like thyrse; calyx small, two-lobed or three to five-toothed; corolla tube short, cylindrical; limb spreading, four-fid. Leaves opposite, entire or toothed. Few of the species are cultivated in this country. They thrive in a compost of sandy loam, peat, and leaf mould, and may be increased by seeds, or by cuttings. P. esculenta (edible). fl. disposed in small, terminal, contracted cymes; corolla yellowish-white. May. fr. purple. l. very short-stalked, oblong, acuminate, slightly narrowed at base, dentate. Branchlets and cymes farinaceously-puberulous. h. 6ft. to 8ft. East Indies, 1824. Shrub. P. integrifolia (entire-leaved). Headache-tree. fl. strongly-scented, disposed in a loosely corymbose, terminal panicle; corolla greenish-white. July. l. short-stalked, ovate or oval, entire or crenate-toothed above, opposite, sometimes whorled, 2in. to 3in. long. h. 10ft. to 12ft. East Indies, 1827. Tree. SYNS. P. serratifolia, P. spinosa.
P. latifolia (broad-leaved). fl. disposed in terminal, axillary, pedunculate panicles; corolla dirty-white. June. l. stalked, rotundate-cordate or oval, 2 1/2in. long, coarctate-acuminate or obtuse, entire or obsoletely repand above, shining above, pale beneath. h. 15ft. East Indies, 1827. Erect, branched shrub or small tree.
P. serratifolia (serrate-leaved). A synonym of P. integrifolia. P. spinosa (spiny). A synonym of P. integrifolia.