214. 



THE 



those of tlie cultivated form of Lime. I collected some small' 

 leaves of this interesting plant and compared them with tlie 

 well-developed leaves of an adjoining cultivated Lime-tree, and 

 found that the undeveloped petiole of the " Li7na " corresponded 

 to the fullj-developed petiole of the Lime. The lime-leaves are 

 thinner, and so is the lime-skin. Thin leaf and thin skin 

 often go together. The blossoms of this Lima were small, like 

 those of the Lime, with either four or five petals, tinged purple 

 (at the Hakgala Gardens, Newera Eliya, I gathered off a Lime-t ree 

 blossoms also tinged purple) ; some of the Lima flowers were 

 male, others hermaphrodite. I afterwards learnt that this Lima 

 is never eaten ; that its fruit is used boiled, as an insecticide, for ' 

 washing the head ; that it is used by estate coolies, and natives, 

 smeared over their feet, as an antidote against land leeches; that 

 it is often cultivated near villages for these purposes, and is also 

 sometimes found in jungles. This Lima appeared to me to have 

 the characters of a wild species ; its fruit is warty, thick-skinned, 

 and the rind has an aromatic, resinous scent, and a bitter acrid 

 flavour; the pulp is sour, and of an unpleasant flavour. A riper 

 specimen had an aroma sui generis in its greenish pulp, not 

 unlike that of the Indian Lime. The subjoined woodcuts give 

 outline drawings of this Lima and its leaves. 



Drawings accompanying the MS. give an idea of its warty ex- 

 terior, one figure distinctly showing a mamilla. The girth of the 

 two specimens is given. All the drawings are natural size *. The 

 section is of A, and shows the thickness of the skin, and the 

 numerous seeds. The woodcuts here given, figs. 1-3, show the 

 leaves of this Lima of Ceylon. They are dark green, thick and 

 leathery, with their edges slightly turned backwards. Fig. 1 is 



The illustrations referred to weri 

 Lime); Limo tuberosum martinicus 



dal 



_ , ^ , Rumph. Flor. Amboj'. vol. ii. tab. 26. 



fig. 1, or Citn,^ Hystrix. DC, Kurz. Flor. Br. Burma. 



Fig. A. Exterior very warty ; the warts being studded with pinholes or 

 openings of the oil-cells. Pale yellow when ripe. The rind has an aromatic 

 resnious scent, and a bitter acrid flavour. Essential oil of a gamboge-yellow, 

 and stains paper permanently yellow. 



Fig. B. Trans, sect, of A. Thick-skinned ; oil-cells numerous, and crowded 

 together ; pulp greenish ; and juice-vesicles very small. The pulp is sour, and 

 of a very unpleasant flavour. Seeds greenish when cut. Many-seeded. 



Fig. C. A third, riper specimen of this Lima had greenish pulp and very 

 sour, with a peculiar aroma, not unlike that of the cultivated Lime. The 

 rind bad a very unpleasant acrid taste and resinons scent 



