128 DipterocarpacecB. {Vatka. 



Fruit nearly spherical i. V. Koxburghiana. 



Fruit ovoid. 



Lateral leaf-veins 4-6 on each side . . . 2. V. affinis. 



Lateral leaf- veins about 12 on each side . 3. V. OBSCURA. 



I. V. Roxburg-hiana, /?/. Mus. Bot. ii. 331 (1852). Mendora, S. 



Isauxis Roxbiirghia?ia^ Thw. Enum. 37 and 404. C. P. 604. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 302. Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 95 (from a Ceylon specimen). 



A moderate-sized tree, young parts finely pubescent ; 

 1. large, 5-10 in., oblong-oval, rounded at base, tapering to 

 obtuse apex, coriaceous, glabrous, shining above, lat. veins 

 10-12, conspicuous beneath, petiole i|^in., thickened above ; 

 fl. on very short, densely tomentose pedicels, arranged in 

 erect panicles much shorter than the 1. ; sep. ovate, acute, 

 densely and finely tomentose, combined below ; pet. 4 times 

 as long as sep., erect, oblong, obtuse, finely tomentose ; anth. 

 with short apiculus ; stigma obscurely 3-lobed ; fr. nearly 

 spherical, \-\\\x\., not apiculate, finely but densely pubescent, 

 indehiscent, but marked with 3 vertical grooves, surrounded 

 at base by enlarged sep., which are i-f in., ovate, acute, 

 5-ncrved, glabrous, pericarp very thick, fibrous-woody with 

 radiate fibres ; seed filling the fruit, embryo \ in. diam., coty- 

 ledons plane-convex, each almost completely divided into 

 2 equal halves. 



Moist low country ; rather common, especially near streams. Colombo ; 

 Kalutara; Hanvvella. Fl. July. 



Also in the west of India and Travancore. 



V. chinensis^ L. is a much older name, but the tree does not grow in 

 China (see Journ. Bot. 1885, 204). This is the type of Linnaeus' genus 

 Vafica, and is well figured in J. E. Smith's Ic. Ined. t. 36. It does not 

 appear whence Linnaeus really obtained his specimens. 



Wight, Ic. t. 26, probably represents this species, but is not cha- 

 racteristic. 



The foresters call this the ' Swamp Mendora.' Wood hard, moderately 

 heavy, smooth, even-grained, brown ; very useful. A yellow transparent 

 resin exudes abundantly from the stem. 



The fruit has the appearance of an Euphorbiaceous one, but it does 

 not appear to dehisce along the three grooves. 



2. V. affinis, Thw. Enum. 404 (1864). Hal-mendora, S. 



C. P. 3416. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 303. 



A large tree, young parts glabrous ; 1. 4-6 in., ovate- 

 lanceolate, rounded at base, tapering to subacute apex, 

 glabrous, coriaceous, lat. veins 5-6, oblique, very prominent 

 beneath, as are also the small, reticulate, connecting veins, 

 petiole 'l~i in., thickened above; fl. on short ped., in upright, 

 nearly glabrous, axillary and terminal panicles shorter than 



