172 TlLiacea:. \Berrya.. 



I. PXTVRANTKZ:, Thw. 



A tree ; fl. small, in panicles ; cal. irregularly 5-lobed ; 

 pet. 5, distinct ; stam. 20, distinct, 5 (opp. sep.) reduced to 

 barren staminodes ; ov. 5-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell; 

 fruit a loculicidal 5-valved capsule ; seed usually solitary (by 

 abortion). — Monotypic and endemic. 



P. verrucosa, Thw. Enum. 29 (1858). Dik-wenna, S. Vid- 

 pani, T. 



C. P. II44- 



Fl. B. Ind. i. 382. Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 109. 



A rather small tree, with erect trunk, bark smooth, young 

 branches rough with peltate scales ; 1. 3-4J in., variable, 

 usually ovate-oblong or oblong, subcordate at base, obtuse, 

 shallowly crenate or repand, stiff, pale green and stellate- 

 scaly above, whitish and densely stellate-pubescent beneath, 

 petiole f in., scaly ; fl. small, numerous, in erect, much- 

 branched, terminal and axillary panicles ; ped. \-\ in., scaly, 

 buds globular-ovoid apiculate, bracts caducous ; cal. cam- 

 panulate, lobes triangular, acute ; pet. twice as long as cal., 

 tapering to base ; 5 barren stam., linear-spathulate, shorter 

 than the fertile ; ov. globose, covered with peltate scales, 

 style simple, as long as stam. ; capsule | in., pyriform, sur- 

 rounded at base with remains of persistent cal. and stam., 

 inflated, 5-angled, very harsh, worted, yellow, 5-valved ; seed 

 usually solitary, globular, finely wrinkled, black with a few 

 white stellate scales. 



Dry districts ; locally common. Jaffna (Gardner) ; abundant in Batti- 

 caloa District (Thwaites) ; plentiful in the Trincomalie District, and ex- 

 tending into adjacent parts of North Central Province, Tamankadua, &c., 

 where it forms much of the undergrowth ; Nilgala, rare. Fl. Sept.-Jan.;. 

 pinkish-white. 



Endemic. 



Wood tough, heavy, yellow, very strong, and much sought after in the 

 E. Prov. for a.xles of timber carts, &c., but it is small, rarely exceeding 

 2\ or 3 ft. in girth. 



2. BERRVA,* /?^r^. 



A tree ; fl. in terminal panicles ; cal. irregularly 3-5-lobed ; 

 pet. 5, distinct ; stam. numerous, distinct, no staminodes ; 

 ov. 3- (or 4-) celled, with 4 ovules in each cell ; fruit a locu- 



* Named after Dr. Andrew Berry, of Madras, an eminent physician 

 and botanist, from whom, in 1802, the Calcutta Gardens received this 

 plant. 



