ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 147 



D. Diospyros cordifolia. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE 148-b. partly. 



E, Maha J\/e%lgherrensiSy (R, W.) 



1. Cyme of male flowers, 1. Male flower. 



2. Corolla split open, the stamens in situ, iti this in- 2. Corolla detached and opened, 

 stance 9 pairs, 8 however is the usual number. 4. Detached stamens. 



3. A pair of anthers detached. 5. Calyx opened, the stamens (9 in this case) inserted 



4. Calyx and sterile ovary. round the base of the sterile ovary. 



5. Portions of upper and under surface of the leaf, 6. Female flower, 

 slightly magnified to show the pubescence. 7. Detached corolla. 



6. Female flowers. 



8. Calyx split open, to show the ovary in situ. 



7. Corolla opened, sterile filaments in situ. 9. Ovary cut vertically. 



8. Detached sterile filaments. 10. cut transversely, 3-celled with two ovules 



9. Calyx and ovary. in each. 



10. Ovary cut vertically, ovules pendulous. 11. An immature fruit 



11, cut transversely, 4-celled with two collateral 12. cut vertically. 



ovules in each. 13. cut transversely. 



12. A fruit, immature. 14. Seed divided longitudinally, embryo in situ. 



13. cut transversely, not sufficiently mature to 15. Embryo detache 



admit of perfect dissection of the seed. 



14. A small portion of a branch magnified, to show 

 the pubescence. y 



C— ILICINE^. 



This order is one of comparatively recent date, the genera composing it having, previous 

 to their separation by Brongniart in 1826, been associated with those of Rhamnece and 

 Celastrinece. In 1825 D. C. constituted them a tribe of his order Celastrineoc, under the 

 name Jquifoliacece, from an old generic name of Ilea;, which, however, he did not retain as 

 an authority for his tribal designation and, in so far I believe, departed from his own rules 

 of nomenclature. But be that as it may, it appears that nearly all Botanists thmk so, as 

 Lindley and Meisner seem to be the only ones who adopt that as the ordinal name. My 



sentiments quite coinciding with those of the majority, I adopt the name under which the 



order, as an order, was first defined and limited. It has 11 genera assigned to it in the 

 most recent lists, but no fewei' than six of those have a mark of doubt added, indicating that they 

 may not properly belong to it, and two of the remainder seem to me to constitute but a sin- 

 gle genus, the differences between Ilea; and Prinos being of specific value only ; Ilex having the 

 corolla 4-o-lobed, Prinos six-lobed; in all other respects they are the same. Hence both 

 Ilea; Garderiana and /. Wightiana unite within themselves both genera, these species havmg 

 as often 6 as 5 lobes to their corollas, and cells to their ovaries. /. denticulata, according to 

 these definitions, is a true Ilex, except that it is very generally polygamous, which, according 



to the character, it ought not to be. r i tt ii n\ 



The species consist of Evergreen trees and shrubs of which the common English Holly (Ilex 

 aquifolium) is the type, with the exception of the leaves, it being about the on y one of the 50 or 

 70 species in which they are so strongly armed with lateral spines. The leaves ot the only 

 Indian ones with which I am acquainted have not a trace of them. 



Character of the Order. Flowers small, white or greenish, axillary, solitary or 

 clustered, sometimes unisexual by abortion, sepals 4-6, imbricated m aestivation. Corolla 4-b- 

 parted, hypogynous, imbricated in estivation. Stamens inserted on the corolla, alternate with 

 its segments; filaments erect; anthers adnate, two-ceUed, opening longitudinally. Disk none. 

 Ovary fleshy, superior, somewhat truncate, with from 2 to 6 or more cells; ovules so itary, 

 anatropal, pendulous, and often hanging from a cup-shaped funeculus ; stigma subsessile, lobed. 

 Fruit Seshy, indehiscent, with from 2 to 6 or more stones Seed suspended, nearly sessile ; 

 albumen large, fleshy; embryo small, 2-lobed, lying next the h.lum, with minute cotyledons and 

 a superior radicle.-Evergreen trees or shrubs, whose branches are often angular. Leave, 

 alternate or opposite, simple, coriaceous, without stipules. Lmdley. 



