Jlerittera.'] StercuHacecE . 167 



thick, densely tomentose, lobes deep, lanceolate, acute ; anth. 

 10 ; follicles 2\ in., very broad, blunt, very thick and woody, 

 smooth ; seeds numerous, \\ in. long, i in. being a terminal 

 thick obtuse wing, cotyledons flat, endosperm copious. 



Dry or intermediate country ; very rare. Only found at Haragama, 

 on the Mahaweli River, by Thwaites in 1853. Fl. Oct.; pale green. 



Endemic. 



2. KSRXTIERA, Ait. 

 Trees; fl. small, in axillary panicles, unisexual, monoecious; 

 cal. 4- (or 5-) clefl: ; pet. o ; stam. combined into a very small 

 central column, anth. 5, minute, sessile ; carp. 4-5, styles 

 distinct, ovule solitary ; ripe carp, woody, indehiscent ; seed 

 solitary, large, no endosperm. — Sp. 5 ; 3 in Fl. B. Ind. 



K. littoralis, Dry and. in Ait. Hort. Kew^ iii. 546 (1789). Etuna, 

 S. Chomuntiri, T. 



Balanopteris Tothila^ Gaertn. Fruct. ii. 94. Moon Cat. 'Jl- Thw. 

 Enum. 28. C. P. 1143. 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 363. Rheede, Hort. Mai. vi. t. 21. Gaertn. Fruct. ii. t. 99. 



A moderate-sized tree, bark longitudinally furrowed, young 

 parts clothed with peltate scales ; 1. 5-8 in., lanceolate-oblong, 

 rounded or acute at base, obtuse, undulate, glabrous above, 

 completely covered beneath with minute silvery peltate scales, 

 petiole fin., stip. small, setaceous, deciduous; fl. small, \ in. 

 long, the fem. rather larger, pedicellate, in pubescent, much- 

 branched, drooping, axillary panicles shorter than 1. ; cal. 

 campanulate, pubescent inside and out, lobes ovate, acute ; 

 carp, glabrous, styles tapering ; ripe carp. 1-3, spreading 

 horizontally, 2| in., indehiscent, broadly ovoid, depressed, the 

 dorsal margin with a broad keel or wing, thick, woody, 

 smooth and shining, pale brown ; seed i in. long, with very 

 thick cotyledons. 



On the sea-coast ; rather common. Panadure; Kalutara; Trincomalie; 

 -Chilaw. Fl. July to October ; pale greenish-pink. 



Found on all Tropical shores of the Old World, the hard indehiscent 

 ripe carpels being carried by the waves. 



According to Gaertner this is 'Tothila' of Herm. Mus. 48, of which 

 there is no specimen in his Herb. But that Sinhalese name is properly 

 applied to Oroxyluni indica. Koenig's specimens are in Mus. Brit. 



The heart-wood is dark red, heavy, very hard, and extremely tough 

 and durable ; it appears to be sometimes called ' Ho-mederiya ' by the 

 nhalese, a name which really belongs to a species of Diospyros. 



Kleinhovia Hospita., L., a tree of the Malay Islands and E. Trop. 

 Africa, is given for Ceylon in Fl. B. Ind. i. 364. It is only cultivated 

 here, and that rarely; the C. P. 1145 specimens are from Peradeniya 

 <jardens. 



