RECENT REVISIONS OF CEYLON BOTANY. 143 



" The species endemic in Ceylon are of interest. S. 

 micrantha and its closely allied representative species S. 

 colubrina inhabit moist low coimtry somewhat similar to the 

 liabitat of S. cinnamomifoUa. S. trichocalyx, and its Indian 

 representative S. Dalzellii, appear to be somewhat dry country 

 plants, judging from their general facies and their stout 

 coriaceous leaves. In these two species the hairs on the inside 

 of the calyx lobes are unique in the genus, at least as far as the 

 eastern species are concerned. Of the three remaining endemic 

 species, S. Benthami, with its 4-merous flowers, is quite a distinct 

 species peculiar to Ceylon, and occurs, as might be expected, 

 in the central and southern regions. S. coriacea, also peculiar, 

 inhabits the Central Province, and S. tetragona is apparently 

 a low-country plant. With its trinerved, closely-veined 

 leaves and glabrous ovary the latter species shows some 

 resemblance to S. senea A. W. Hill from Travancore. The 

 anthers, however, in the Ceylon plant are slightly bearded, 

 and the resemblance between the two species may only be 

 superficial. It has seemed desirable to refer to the Ceylon 

 species of Strychnos in some detail since erroneous deductions 

 might be drawn from the statements published in Trimen's 

 Flora." 



Hill divides his material in four groups: (1) Brevitubse, 

 with a very short corolla tube, (2) Lanigerse, with the corolla 

 provided with long woolly hairs at the throat ; (3) Penicil- 

 latae, differentiated by the occurrence of a line of erect bristle- 

 like hairs either across the base or across the middle of the 

 inner face of the corolla lobes ; and (4) Tubiflorss, with an 

 elongated, cylindrical corolla tube. 



The key to the Ceylon species is as follows : — 



Section I. — Brevitubge. 



Corolla tube short ; lobes of the corolla longer than the tube, 

 lobes and throat glabrous or woolly tomentose. 



Corolla lobes 5 ; anthers hairy ; ovary and style gla- 

 brous. 



S. tetragona. 



6(1)20 (20) 



