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HE LIBRARY I$59 _ Galcutta Journal ov NATURAL HISTORY Contributions towards a Flora of Ceylon. By George Garp- ner, F.L.S., Corresponding Member of the Royal Botanical Sociely of, Ratisbon, und Superintendent of the Royal B3- tanical Gardens, Ceylo®. ORD. NAT. STERCULIACEYE. Durio ceyYLanicus, Gardn. D. foliis exacte oblongis basi rotundatis apice longe sovmis | uatis, umbellis sessilibus nodosjs multifforis, floribus cyling. dricis apetalis, tubo stamineo elongato, capitulis echinatis, spinis elongatis validis. Purio zibethinus, Moun Cat, Ceyl. Pl. p. 56. (nok Linneus.; Tia n.— Wooded hills near Galle, in the Southern Proyince, ‘but little above the sea level, and very common in forests in the Central Province at an elevation of about 3,000 feet. Flowers in May. Deser.—A tree from 60 to 120- fect Ngh. The old Grehokel” and stems covertd with ash-coloured bark, the -branchlety with small imbricated, peltate, lobedsdvoynish coloure® scales. Legtda alter- nate, petiolate, oblong, rounded at the base, much agoyinated at the Vou. vin. No. 29, Avrrm,as47. 2 Contributions towards a Flora of Ceylon. apex, glabrous, green,¢and shining above, covered beneathewith brown seales, similar to those on the young branches, pennivenous, the veins very slegder and included, the midrib psominent beneath, 6-7 inches Jong, 21- 37 lines broad, in texture between membrancous and corigceous: petiole about 10 lines Jong,* rout, curved, and thickened from belof, the mide upwirds. Flower fomewpat um” belliferous, zumtrous, arising from large irregularly lobed wopdy protubemances fon ghe larger branches, pedicgllate. Pedicels eylin- dricg), thickened upwards, marked about the meddle with the scars of tw R deciduous hracts, coveyed with scales similar to those ou the Teaves and branches, 9 lings long. Involygrum evlindries|, 2-4-lobed at the apes, deciduous, cSvered with brown scales, about 8 lines long. Calye cylindrical, somgvht conig&® 14 inches long, 43 Tines broad, imegularly 5-dentate Ye apex, fleshy, dovered externally with brown scales, similar to those of the pedicels and i involucrum, and the lower two-thirds iifternally with scales which are also peltate, bat thinner, less lobed, more ciliated, and of a paler colour, the upper third quite glabrous. Corolla nome. Staminal tube cylinri- eal, 18-20 lines long, whitish, glabrous dividiug iato five portions at the apex, whieh are lincar, flattenedy much acumiuated, puberu- Jous externally, and cach be&ring about five shortly pedicellate anthers: anthera globose, fixed By the base, entirely surrounded by we'sod pollen grains. Pollen globose,*pedicellate! echinate. Ovary superior, sessile, cylindrical, covered externally with roundish, peltate, whitish scales, 5-celled. Q@vules about two in each ecll, superposed, attached to the inner angle, adtfnding, anatropous. Style filiform, densely covered with whitish coloured peltate, deeply ciliated scales : Stigma globose, yellowish. ¢ Capsule globose, about 5 inches in Sia ymeter, of a fibrous woody texture, densely covered with long,erigid spines, rising from a broad conical base, 5-celled, S¢valved, with loawlicidhl dehiscence. Seeds about two in each cell, ascending, irre- ‘gularly triangular, 15-18 tines long, nearly entirely surrounded’ by a Meply laciniated, white, »“gshy arillus. 7 esta hard, shining, and of a ‘thestnut colour, the ling of the rapherasning along one sidg of “the external angle. Zmébryo exalbuminous: cotyledons fleshy, firmly vadhering to each other: radical next theshilum, retracted, inversely conical, obtuy, greenish. Contributions towards a Flora of Ceylon. 3 . Bus. L—I much reget, that I have neither specimens nor a good recent figure of Durto stbethenus, with which to, compare the pfesent plant, though I havg no doubt of its being a congener, notwithstanding its apetalgys flowers. With the asgistanct of the figure which Rumphius has given of the former*specics, I have, however, becn,enabled to draw up*a specific character ‘by which to distinguish he ( Ceylon one from it. It i is Not a little singular thatgthough they are so nearly related ‘to each other, the fruit of the Ceylopelpe- cies has neither the: foctid smell* nor the edible property uf “the Malacca one. Th ‘roc is call{d Katu-Moda by the Singhalese, but is not so far, as I can learn, appligd by them to any useful perpose. Monkeys are very fond of the nuts. Ons. 11.—There are one or two points connected with the structure of the anthers in this tree’that are worthy of being more fully alluded to. While examining these organs, I was surprised to find them. quite destitute of cells, the pollen grains being naked, and entirely surrunding’a globose fleshy receptacle. I was then Jed to ‘enquire how far this might be owing to the age of the organ, but the same structure was found in the bud as in the’expanded flower. Although this globular anther is densely covéred with pollen, yet it only forms a single serics, and eacl grain is echinate and dis- tinctly pedicellate, the whole forming a beautiful microscopic wobjget. I have never before met With so remarkable a deptgture from the normal structure of the anther, nor am Laware, thatany such is recorlled among the many pectliari- ties of this organ enumerated by Mr. Brown, in his valuable paper on Rafflelsia, in the 13th volyine of ‘The Linnean Transactions,’ nothin *of the kind js*alluded to ; nor is * mentioned in the “Tecoys de -Botanique’ of St. Hilaire, which is the Latest work I’ possess on vegetable morphology. In a morphological pointwfgview, the ptculiarity is a moste interesting one, as a greater reméve from the original type of an exogenous anther cannot well be conceived, 4 Contributions towards a Flora of Ceylon. ORD. NAT. CLUSIACE. \Masua ‘nagaua, Gardn. ‘ M. folf® lanceolatis basi obtusis vel, acutiusculis apice acuminatis, acumine obtusis, coriaceis supra virMi-nitentibus subtus glauciss fieribus axillaribus <erminaljbusque solita is vel geminfi,<pedicellis petiolo pins duply brevioribus, petalis ‘obeordatis sessilibus margine undulatis, capsulis globosis de- Mesua ferrea, Moon Cat. Ceyl. Ph. p. bl. Wight Icones + Plant. t. 118. (non Linneus.) . e Pd Hapi—On the west side of Ceylon, from® the sea level an elevation of about 2,000 feet. Flowers in May. . © Descr.—A tree 20 to 60 fect high. Leaves 4-7 inches long, 16-21 Jines broad, when young of a blood-red. colour : petiole 5-7 nes long, subterete. ,Pedicels 2-3 lines long. Flowers white, 3} inches in diameter. Sepals 4,+in tyo scries, roundish, concave, slightly pubcrulous, cijiated, those of the external series much sinaller, aud connate at the base. Petals. Sdqmens mmaerous, mouudelphons -ut the base: filaments filiform, yellow: anthers oblong, orange coloured. Ovary conical, depressed, glabrous, white, imperfectly 2-eelled, with two erect, compressed ovules in each cell. Style filiform + stigma peltate, concave: capsule globose, depressed about an inch in diameter, nearly 1-cclled from the almost entire absprp- tion of the dissepiment, 2-valved, with a septicidal dehiseeneo, 2-4- =seeded. Seeds large, crect, coutave, or, flattened en tucir imucr surface, convex on the outer : festa coriaceous, of a chestuut colour, EMforyo exalbuminous, ,orthotropous: cotyledons very fleshy, of a yellowish colour, distigtt, but adhering rather firmly together: dical small, inferior, directed towards theehilum. * . Oss.—This, tho Na-gaha of the Singhalesc§ and the Iron- »wood of the English, has bec} eemfounded by Moon and Wight with the Mesua fefrea of Linneus, a very different species, as I have been able to determine from excellent Contributions towards a.Flora of Ceylon. 5 e epdanens of the latter from Malacea, which I owe to the kindness of the late Mr. Griffith, and which perfectly accord . with the figure of Rumph. (Amb. 7, t. 2.) Ty that species the leaves are comparatively very small, and 2 fruit iL pvate, and much acumipated. * Dr. Wight in a more recent Paplication i. Spicile Neill. l. pe 27)" ‘states’ that he *: now believes the Ceylon tree to* be identical with the Mesia speciosa of Choisy, a native of the Neilgherries, where Lhad the fleasure of collecting specimens along with Dr. Wight in Febpsary 1845. A comparison of those specimens with Ceylos opes has enabled me to detemmine, that, #he trees are distinct. The latter differs in having leaves which are broader i in pro- portion to theiy length, obtuse at the base, and with an ohtuse, not acute, acumen. ‘The pedicels are more than twice shorter than the petioles, while in Mesua speciosa they are about equal to them in length. In the latter the calycing segments are covered with a short tomentum, while in the present species they arewnly slightly puberulous. Although the fluwers are about tne same size in bdth species; the anthers of the Neilgherry one*are twice as lurge as the Ceylon ones, and the cBsule ‘About three times larger, and ovate, acute, not globose, depressed. : The tree is a very handsonfe one, and is one of those usually planted near Budhist temples. The wood is very hard, hence the English name. The young leaves give it a every’ striking appearance at certain seasons, being of a bright- blod! colour. The flowers are not unlike those of some large .Cistus, Snd, 4s in that genus,*the petals are very fugactous. ORD. NAT. ROSACEA. Rusus PRIRIOLMIANUS Gardn. R. scandens fruticdsus, ramis terefihus petiolis pedunculis- . que dense cingreo-tomentdsis sparse aculeatis, aculeis de- flexis vix curvatis, folijs , coyiaceis laté pvatis basi cordatis | 5-lobis margine minute denticulatis supra rugosis giabriurcalis”