NOTES ON THE FLORA OF CEYLON. 243 



brandies covering a circle of ground over 200 ft. in diameter. 

 The orange-red fruit, the size of a small cherry, is ripe in Ju.ly and 

 August. 



Picus caudiculata Trim. — Leaves oblong-oval, 3-4 in. long 

 by 1^-2 in. wide, rounded at the base, suddenly narrowed into a 

 slender acute tail at the apex |—|- in. long, and often twisted ; mid- 

 rib very strong, wide, and prominent beneath ; lateral veins well- 

 marked, nearly straiglit, diverging at a wide angle, anastomosing by 

 arches just within the margin, the intervening spaces evenly filled 

 in with elegant rectangular reticulations raised beneath ; texture 

 rather thick, glabrous, dark green above, pale beneath ; petiole f in. 

 or more, channelled above ; stipules larger, an inch long, tapering 

 into long, very acute points, membranous, orange-red, rather per- 

 sistent ; receptacles sessile, solitary ?, smooth, red, as large as a 

 sloe, with 2 or 3 large fused flat bracts at the base. 



Hab. Paregodde, Pasdun Korle, Western Prov., June, 1883. 



A few specimens only of this were brought in by the Garden 

 collectors, and I have not yet succeeded in obtaining more ; but 

 Dr. King, to whom I have submitted one of them, agrees that they 

 represent a distinct species hitherto undescribed. The collectors 

 described it as a large tree. The twigs are stout, with a yellow-grey 

 bark, strongly marked with the scars of the fallen leaves and 

 stipules. 



Elatostema lineolatum Wight, var. petiolake Thw. ms. — 

 Leaves 4-5 in. long, including the petiole of ^-J in., into which the 

 blade tapers gradually, narrowly lanceolate, caudate, with a long 

 linear or strap-shaped tail, with 2-4 very coarse and large teeth on 

 either side in upper part, entire below ; cystoliths linear, only 

 showing on the under surface and on midrib and margins above, 

 dark green, very pale beneath. 



Hab. Central Province, May, 18G6. (C. P. 3920 in Herb. 

 Perad.). 



A remarkable form of an extremely variable species, or perhaps 

 of specific distinctness. The leaves are as large as m var. majus 

 Wedd., and, besides the presence of a petiole, are remarkable for 

 the absence of cystoliths on their upper surface, which becomes 

 dark brown after drying. 



Dendrobium albidulum Thw. ms. — Small, casspitose ; 

 pseudo-bulbs about | in. long, oblong-ovoid, pale green when 

 young, afterwards yellow and wrinkled ; leaves about 4, the 

 sheaths wide, membranous, and striate ; blade f-lj in. long, 

 linear-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or subacute, somewhat 

 twisted, bright apple-green ; midrib prominent beneath ; racemes 

 terminal, usually solitary, rarely 2, with 1-5 small flowers on 

 slender pedicels twice or thrice as long as the subtending acuminate 

 bracts ; sepals and petals oblong-lanceolate, acute, nearly equal, 

 the petals a little narrower, spreading, all pure white ; labellum 

 rhomboidal, attenuated at base, 3-lobed, the lateral lobes short 

 acute, the central one rounded, subacute, with the margin creuate 

 and crisped, all pale green finely dotted with claret-colour, the 

 centre of the basal half occupied by a two-grooved ridge ending in 



