

45 



SANSEVIERA ZEYLANICA 



46 



after the plants have arrived to a proper age. The plants I used 

 were only twelve months old, which I imagine to be hardly suffi- 

 cient for yielding the best, and the largest proportion of flax. 



There is certainly a great variety of uses to which these fibres 

 might be well applied, probably to more than any other substance 

 yet known. I am inclined to think that the fine line, called China 

 grass, which is employed for fishing-lines, fiddle-strings, and 

 other purposes, is made of these fibres. 



The plant is readily propagated from slips, which issue in great 

 abundance from the roots ; it requires little or no care, and being 

 perennial, it would not often (if at all) require renewing: indeed 

 the bed in my garden required thinning. 



I remember to have seen, some years ago, a bed or two of these 

 plants in Mr. Claud Russell's garden at Vizagapatam, which grew 

 much more luxuriantly than mine have done, and gives me reason 



* 



to think that a rich sandy soil may suit the plant better than our 

 stiffer soil about Samulcotah. Should it ever become an object of 

 culture, a less expensive and more expeditious method of cleaning 

 the flax from the pulpy parts of the leaves, than that of the natives 

 above described, must be contrived ; for as they manage it, that 

 part of the process, would prove a great deal more expensive than 

 all the rest. 



185. 



DAMASONIUM INDICUM. 



Linn. spec, plant, edit. Willdenow . 2. p. 2,16. 

 Stratiotes Alismoides. Linn. spec, plant. 7 54. 



Neer Veneky of the Telingas. 



Root fibrous. 



Leaves radical, petioled, from oblong-hearted, to broad-hearted, 



waved, 7-1 1 -nerved, smooth, of a thin membranous texture ; 



size very various, about six inches each way. 

 Petiole three-sided ; length various. 



Peduncle radical with the petioles, and of the same length, 4-5- 



sided, smooth, one-flower'd. 



Spathe one-leaved, 5 -6-wing'd: wings membranous, waved; mouth 



5-6-tooth'd. 



■ 



Perianth above, three-leaved. 



Corol three-petal'd. 



Nectary : three inverse-hearted scales grow within the insertion of 



the petals. 



Filaments from 6 to 10, erect. Anthers linear, erect. 

 Germ within the belly of the spathe. 

 Styles from 6 to 10, half two-cleft. 

 Stigmas acute. 



Gapsule oblong, crowned with the withered perianth, six-groov'd, 



one-cell'd, six-valved. 



Seeds numerous, affixed to six sharp keels (receptacles) running on 



the inside of the sutures of the six valves. 



An annual plant, and native of shallow, sweet water ; flowering 

 time the rainy season. 



186. 



SYMPHOREMA INVOLUCRATUM 



Suroodo of the Telingas 



GENERIC CHARACTER 



Involucre 6-8-leaved. Calyx below, 6-8-tooth'd. Corol one -petaled, 



6-8-cleft. Seed one, inclosed in the calyx. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Stem woody, large, climbing ; bark ash-colour'd. 



Branches straight, cross-arm'd. 



Leaves opposite, short-petioled, egg'cl, grossly saw'd, downy, 



about three inches long, and two broad. 

 Peduncles fascicled, from the extremities of the naked branchlets, 



and last years axills, round, downy, each supporting a single 



umbellet. 



« 



Flowers sessile, small, white. 



Involucre six-eight-leav'd, seven-nine-flower'd : leaflets chaffy, 



lanced, downy, permanent. 



Calyx beneath, one-leav'd, tubular, six-eight-striated, six-eight- 



tooth'd, downy, permanent. 



Corol one-petal'd : tube short ; border six-eight-cleft : divisions 



linear, spreading. 



Filaments seven-eight, shorter than the corol, inserted just below 



its divisions. Anthers oblong. 

 Germ round. 



Style length of the stamens. 

 Stigma bifid. 



Pericarp none, the remaining wither'd calyx serves for one. 

 Seed one, globular, smooth, size of a pea. 



A large scandent shrub, a native of forests ; casts its leaves 

 during the cold season, but they return with the flowers in, 

 February, March, and April. 



I know of no use made of any part of this shrub, except for 

 fuel . 



187. 



LAURUS INVOLUCRATA 



Narra of the Telingas. 



Trunk 



the small, light-ash coloured and smooth. 

 Leaves scatter'd, petioled, broad-lanced, attenuated 



branche 



on 



a 



long 

 slender waved point, three-nerved, (nerves unite above the 

 base, as in Laurus Cinnamomum, and vanish a little above 

 the middle of the leaf,) entire, smooth, above shining:, below 



first appear, they are 



g, and 1 and 1| broad. When they 

 >vered with a most beautiful 

 r-down. 



soft 



about an inch long, channel'd, slender, bowing 



Ipules none, but many conical scales surround the conical bud 

 before the leaves expand. 



Umbellet 



MALE TREE. 



Involucre four-leaved, five-floreted : leaves orbicular, 



falli 



in 



Florets short, pedicel'd. 



concave, 





Petals four, oblong, spreading. 



VOL. II. 







