NOTES ON THE FLORA OF CEYLON. 203 



Aspidium aculeatum has been nearly eradicated. — A. angulare 

 I have never yet met with in Derbyshire, though I have seen it on 

 the New Red Sandstone in Staffordshire. 



Botrychium Limaria. I once met with this on one of the liills 

 above Dovedale, at about 1200 ft. elevation. 



Pteris is absent from Dovedale, and I do not know a nearer 

 station than Hartington Dale, some five miles off, where it is 

 growing on limestone. It is very scarce on the North Staffordshire 

 moors. 



I hope hereafter to follow up these Notes on North Derbyshire 

 Botany by a list of the species which I noted down during the years 

 I passed in the extreme south of the county. 



NOTES ON THE FLORA OF CEYLON. 

 By Henry Trimen, M.B., F.L.S. 



(Continued from p. 176). 



Descriptions op New Species and Varieties. 



Alsodeia decora Trim. — Glabrous, the young twigs finely 

 pilose ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, somewhat trapezoid, shortly 

 acuminate, the apex very obtuse or emarginate, the upper half 

 shallowly crenate-serrate ; petiole short, slender ; stipules subulate, 

 early caducous ; flowers not seen ; fruit solitary, on slender 

 peduncles from short scaly branchlets in axils of fallen leaves ; 

 persistent sepals rigid, lanceolate, acute ; persistent petals strap- 

 shaped, twice as long as sepals; capsule over ^ in. long, glabrous; 

 seeds 3, mottled. 



Hab. Near Great Western Hill, Hewahette, Cent. Province 

 1868. (C. P. 4006 in Herb. Perad.) 



Leaves 2-2^ in. long, rather stiff, veins reticulated, strongly 

 marked on both surfaces. Petals ^ in. Fruit-stalks ^ in. long. 

 Dr. Thwaites has called this A. ohuisata (in Hb. Perad.), a name 

 too closely similar to A. obtusa Hassk. to be adopted. 



Vatica obscura Trim. — Leaves narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, obtuse ; lateral veins about 12 on either side ; venation 

 prominent beneath ; flowers stalked, in short lax leafy panicjes in 

 the leaf-axils ; branches of inflorescence densely scurfy or stellately 

 pubescent. Calyx small, -r'o iu- ; segments oval-lanceolate, sub- 

 acute ; petals i-f in. long, oblong strap-shaped, the base concave 

 and stiff"; fruiting calyx (not fully matured) much enlarged, fully 

 i in.; the segments equal, broadly oval, obtuse, 3-veiued ; ripe 

 fruit not seen. 



Hab. Forests in the Eastern Province. Leaves 4-6 in. Ion" 

 by i-1 in. broad, paler beneath, pellucid-pimctate with transmitted 

 light ; petiole i-f in. long, slightly pubescent when young. 

 Flowers rather large ; petals white, with a pink base; stamens 15: 

 anthers broadly oblong, connective apiculate ; ovary conical 



