90 EbenacecB. [Diospyros^ 



Var. j3, microphylla, Thw. 1. c. C.P. 1916. 

 L. ver)' small, all under h in., cuneate. 

 Var. 7, Ebenus, T/nu. 1. c. M. Ebcnus, Wight, Ic. tt. 1228, 1229. 



c. P. 3395. 



L. larger, ih-^h in., broadly oblong-oval; fruit depressed- 

 globular, nearly i- in., dull purpli.sh-red. 



Var. ^, ang-ustifolia, Thiu. 1. c. C. P. 191 7. 



L. long, 2-4 in., lanceolate, tapering to both ends. 



Low country up to 3000 ft. The type common in the dry region. 

 Var. /3, Jaffna. Var. 7, moist region. Ambagamuwa ; Pasdun Korale. 

 Var. (1, moist region. Pasdun Korale ; Hiniduma; Kitulgala; Uma-oya. 

 Fl. Feb. -May; white or pinlcish. 



Also in most parts of Tropical Asia and Africa, Madagascar. 



Hermann gives the S. name ' Highulhasnda' for this. The wood is 

 hard and durable. Fruit rather pulpy when ripe, edible. \'ery variable 

 in foliage; the varieties strongly marked. 



2. DZOSFYROS,^Z. 



Trees, 1. alt. (very rarely opp. or sub-opp.), entire; fl. small. 

 unisexual, dioecious (very rarely moncecious), axillary; caL 

 larger in fern. fl. and becoming much enlarged with fruit,, 

 scgm. 4 or 5 (rarely o) ; cor. tubular campanulate or urceolate, 

 lobes 4 or 5, generally short, contorted; male fl. : — stam. 5-64,. 

 fil. often unequal, distinct or connate in pairs, the inner ones 

 shorter, anth. narrow often apiculate; ov. rudimentary or O; 

 fem. fl. : — staminodes (when present) 4-16; ov. 4-16- (usually 

 8-) celled, with a solitary ovule in each cell; fruit usually 

 globose, supported on the more or less enlarged and hardened 

 cal., pericarp indehiscent, usually thick, with few (2-10) large 

 seeds in soft or fleshy pulp ; seeds oblong, somewhat com- 

 pressed, endosperm copious, equable or more or less ruminate. 

 — Sp. 153 ; 59 in FL B. Ind. 



Very little is known about many of our species, which are rare or local 

 in the forests of the wet region, and seem to flower but seldom. The 

 native Sinhalese names are vaguely applied or very local, and refer more 

 to the wood than to the trees themselves ; and one is rarely able to obtain 

 both wood and herbarium specimens from the same tree, in which way 

 alone it is possible to be justified in definitely decidmg the source of the 

 former. The various rare mottled cabinet- woods, which appe ir to be 



* A name of Dalechamps (1586) for the original (Mediterranean) 

 species, D. Lotus, with edible fruit. From Aide, Jupiter, and irv^d^y grain. 



