Securinega
(from securis, a hatchet, and nego, to refuse; in reference to the extreme hardness of the wood). Including Geblera. ORD. Euphorbiaceae. This genus embraces about eight species of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, branched shrubs, inhabiting temperate and tropical regions. Flowers monoecious or dioecious, apetalous, glomerate at the axils; males small, numerous, subsessile; females fewer or solitary. Leaves alternate, entire, often small. Only one species calls for description here, and it is doubtful if that is still cultivated. It thrives in any rich, loamy soil. Propagated readily by cuttings of the half-ripened wood, inserted in sand, under a glass, in heat. S. Commersoni (Commerson's). A synonym of S. durissima. S. durissima (very hard-wooded). Otaheite Myrtle. fl. white; males sub-sessile; females at length somewhat spreading, reflexed; calyx silky-pubescent. June. l. usually oblong-ovate, acute, shortly narrowed into the petioles. h. 35ft. Mauritius, &c., 1793. Stove. This is the Bois dur of the colonists. SYNS. S. Commersoni, S. nitida.
S. nitida (shining). A synonym of S. durissima.
