SEER SEI 
SAS on APO SOE 
NOTES ON THE BOTANY OF CEYLON. 279 
I have not yet had time to analyze carefully, so cannot tell its immediate 
affinities. I found the forest where I have been exploring (between 
Ratuapoora and Galle) abounding in species of Dipterocarpee :—Diptero- 
carpus, 4 species ; Doona, 3 ; Hopea, 1; Fatica, 3; Stenoporus, 3 ; Mono- 
porandra, 1; Isauxis,1; Vateria,1. Most of these being new to me, 
have added to our number of this Natural Family very considerably. We 
met with a very pretty new Mesua, a new Terpnophyllum, and a Calo- 
Phyllum I had not seen before; a new Luphorbiacea, near to, if not a 
species of, Dr.Wight’s genus Sarcoclinium, with obovate-lanceolate leaves 
three feet long and nearly a foot wide, and racemes of small flowers, 
more than two feet in length, a most extraordinary-looking plant. Of 
Dilleniacee we met with two beautiful species of Acrotrema, one with 
finely divided cheerophylloid leaves, and another with the leaves pinna- 
tifid at the base. We also found new species of Sapotacee, Ebenacea, 
Myrtacee, Memecylee, Anonacee, Graminee, Zingiberacee, Symplocee, 
Loranthacezg, and other species of Rubiacee, Euphorbiacee and Orchida- 
cee, besides those mentioned before. So you see that the Ceylon Flora 
is not yet exhausted ; and I purpose, if nothing prevent, going next year 
towards the same part of the Island, keeping rather more to the west- 
ward (between Caltura and Ratuapoora), where there appear to be 
some fine forests. You would have been delighted to see the lovely 
Cyathea sinuata growing in the greatest abundance: some groups of it 
were perfectly exquisite, and I wished them at Kew. There was a very 
pretty Chirita growing on stones in the bed of streams, like €. Zeylanica, 
but much smaller and with lanceolate narrow leaves; it is possibly a 
variety of C. Zeylanica, though at first sight very unlike it. I send you 
some seeds of it. 
In some parts of the country where I have been recently travelling, 
I found the natives burning oil extracted from the seeds of the Garcinia 
echinocarpa, Thw., which is most abundant in the forests. It is a thick 
gummy oil, and gives out a great deal of smoke; I have a specimen of — — 
it for you, but hope to get a better one before I send to you. The — 
natives extract oil too, for burning, from the seeds of Meswa and Ko- — 
koona, but I have not yet been able to get specimens of these oils, 
though I hope to do so when the seeds are ripe. The handsome “ Ca- —— 
lamander ” wood, which used to be abundant in the great Singhe-rajah 
forest, which I have been exploring, is now very scarce, and the remain- 
ing trees are of only moderate size, too small for felling. I succeeded 
