much engaged and pressed for time, which is the only 

 apology I can offer for this and some other over- 

 sights which I have now reason to regret. 



m 



1845- liiTSMA OBLONGA (Nees), leaves oblong, 



narrow at the apex, bluntish acute at the base, tri- 

 plinerved, uniformly coloured on both sides, scrobi- 

 culately reticulated and, with the ramuli, glabrous. 

 Courtallum. The drawing was made from speci- 

 mens named by Nees. They seem to differ but little 



from Ceylanica^ except in being destitute of white 

 bloom on the under surface of the leaves. 



1846. Lepibabenia Geiffithii (R. W.), every 



where glabrous : leaves oblong lanceolate, bluntish 

 or sometimes cuspidate, coriaceous, slenderly penni- 

 flerved, shining above, dull (when dried, brownish) 

 beneath : umbels axillary, sub-racemose on short 

 peduncles, long pedicelled : involucrum 4-leaved : 

 perianth 6-lobed: stamens 12, six glanduliferous : 

 perianth of the fruit cup-shaped, truncated, fruit 



globose. 

 Malacca, Griffith. For the reasons stated above, 



nate (pearly an inch in diameter); when fresh, one -half 

 of a dark brownish-purple, the other pale yellowish, 

 or creara-colom'ed. Corolla tubular, exceeding the 

 bracteols, light blue, the lobes of the limb acutely 

 turned back on the apex of the tube. 



I have dedicated this handsome genus to the Rev. 

 Dr. Bernard Schmid of Ootacamund, whose botanical 

 collections have extended our acquaintance with the 

 Flora of the -Neilgherries and, but for the untimely 

 death of Dr. Zenker, who had undertaken the pub- 

 lication of these extensive and valuable materials, 

 would have proved of the greatest value to subsequent 

 explorers of the Flora of these elevated regions. 



Two genera, one of Grasses the other of Compositse, 

 have already, with the exception of a single letter, 

 (the terminal t, which Dr. S, informs me does not 

 belong to his name,) borne this name, and both are 

 reduced. I trust this one will prove more fortunate. 

 The genus is xmdoubtedly very nearly allied to both 

 Meyenia and Hexacentris^ but does not enter either. 



1848. SCHMIDIA BICOLOE (R. W.). 



Western slopes of the Neilgherries below Sisparah. 



I have referred this plant here. Its principal pecn- j^ -^ ^^ extensive twiner and most conspicuous on 

 liarity consists m the great len^h of the pedicels of ^ 



the umbels, in which respect it is an easily distin- 



guished species. The analyses of the flowers are 

 taken from buds not quite opened, and may be incor- 

 rect as regards the relative length of the stamens 

 and lobes of the perianth. I suspect, too, that it is 

 dioicous, but on that point do not feel certain. The 



account of its long racemes and large 2 -coloured 

 bracteoles, which are very remarkable. It flowers 

 during the latter months of the year, and the fruit 

 is ripe in February. I suspect it is a rai'e flow- 

 ering plant, as I have twice visited the station in 

 February and March, and only found a few seed : this 

 season, 1850, 1 received specimens from three different 



leaves are represented too sharp-pointed, many of persons, gathered in December and January, 



them being quite blunt. 



1847. Casstta FiLiroEMis (Linn.), glabrous, spike 

 simple, peduncled : flowers distinct, stamens of the 

 outer series petaloid. 



A parasitic herbaceous plant, extensively distri- 

 buted over India, common in low shrubby jungles. 

 In jungles of this description near the Red Hills, a 

 few miles from Madras, it is very abundant. 



It seems an unnatural proceeding to place this 

 parasitic genus in the same family with the noble 

 trees forming the bulk of this large order, but still 

 it seems almost unavoidable so long as our ordinal 

 characters are derived from the fructification, for in 

 truth there is nothing in either the flowers or fiiiit 

 to justify its removal. The habit, however, is so very 

 remote from that of the rest of the order, that there 

 seems but too good grounds, on that head alone, for 

 following Lindley in separating it even though the 

 flowers are so perfectly Laurinous. 



SCHMIDIA (R, W.). 



Gen. Char. Bracts 2, free to the base, calyx en- 

 tire, very short. Corolla tubular, opening obliquely; 

 limb 5-lobed, reflexed. Stamens sub-didynamous, 

 inserted near the middle of the tube, incluse ; anthers 

 2-celIed, straight, cells contiguous, parallel, prolonged 

 below the point of attachment and each ending in a 

 a longish subulate spur ; no rudimentary filament. 

 Ovary 2-celled, with 2 ovules in each ; stigma entire, 

 truncated : capsule globose at the base, ending in a 

 conical beak, 2-celled. Seed sub-globose flattened 

 next the partition. — A twining shrub, leaves opposite, 

 broad ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, subcrenato-dentatc, 

 3-5 -nerved, glabrous: racemes axillary, long, pendu- 

 lous, many-flowered: bracts small, subulate; brac- 

 teols large, sub -orbicular, reniform at the base, mucro- the plate. 



1849. Caseabia elliptica (Willd., D. C), flowers 

 5-parted, ten-anthered : pedicels axillary, aggregated, 

 1 -flowered : leaves elliptico-lanceolate, somewhat ser- 

 rated, blunt, mucronate; the young ones velvety 

 beneath. 



A ramous rather large shrub, not uncommon in 

 Southern India in jungles near the coast, especially 

 in rather rich moist soil. It is frequent among the 

 bushes usually found about old " Bowries" near pa- 

 godas. The leaves, if held between the eye and the 

 light, are found perforated with numerous pellucid 

 points in which there is a mixture of long and round 

 ones, a peculiarity of such rare occurrence in the 

 vegetable kingdom that it forms an ordinal character 

 of much value. Roxburgh does not seem to have 

 met with this species, as its flowers do not correspond 

 with the character of those of any of his species. 



1850. Gyrinops Wai.la (Gsertner). 

 Ceylon. Of this genus this is the only species, 



hence it can have no specific character by which to 



distinguish it- 



The genus is distinguished by its tubular 5-cleft 

 perianth, 5 sessile anthers opposite the lobes, a long 

 stipitate ovary attenuated at the apex, a flattened 

 globose stigma, and a long stipitate coriaceous capsule. 



The plant a^ seen in dried specimens is of a bro^vn- 

 ish-yellow colour, the leaves elliptic oblong, quite en- 

 tire, somewhat obtusely acuminate at the point, mark- 

 ed with finely transverse veins. Flowers yellow, 

 about half an inch long, hairy in the throat and at the 

 base of the tube, like the ovary. Endlicher assigns 

 it a 1 -celled ovary and 2 pendulous ovules. I find 

 in my specimen the ovary distinctly 2-celled with 

 1 -ovule in each, attached to the partition as shown in 



( 16 ) 



