Exacum.l Gentzanacecs. i8i 



acute, glabrous, 3- (or 5-) nerved, firm, petiole very short; fl. 

 on long nodding ped., in the forks of the branches and pseudo- 

 axillary; cal.-segm. lanceolate, acuminate, very acute, wing 

 rather narrow, rounded (not semi-cordate) at base; cor. i\ in. 

 diam., lobes 5, lanceolate, acute; anth. \ in., not beaked; 

 capsule I in., broadly ovoid, tipped with a hard beak. 



Upper montane zone, 5000-6000 ft., rare. About Nuwara Eliya ; 

 Adam's Peak ; Horton Plains. Fl. Feb., Sept.; pure white with greenish 

 eye. 



Endemic. 



Easily recognised by its always white flowers with acute lobes. 



3. E. zeylanicum, Roxb. Cat. PL 83 (1813). Bindara, G-inl- 

 hiriya, S. 



Herm. Mus. 33. Burm. Thes. 104, 145. Fl. Zeyl. n. 90. CJiironia 

 trinervia, L. Sp. PI. 189. Moon Cat. 16. Thw. Enum. 203. C. P. 512. 

 Fl. B. Ind. iv. 97. Burm. Thes. t. 67. Bot. Mag. t. 4423. 



Stem 1-2^ ft, stout, more or less quadrangular, branched 

 above; 1. nearly or quite sessile, 2^-3 J in., ovate or narrowly 

 lanceolate, tapering to base, much attenuate, very acute, rather 

 thick, strongly 3-nerved ; fl. numerous, cymes large, leafy ; 

 cal.-segm. lanceolate, very acuminate, wing rounded or nar- 

 rowed at base; cor. i|-if in. diam., lobes 5, oval or obovate- 

 oval, usually very obtuse; anth. \-h in., slightly tapering up- 

 wards ; capsule |— | in. 



Var. /3, pallidum, Trim. C. P. 38. 



L. broader, less acuminate ; fl. smaller, lobes often sub- 

 acute, anth. smaller, about \ in. 



Moist region, very common ; the type up to 4000 ft. Var. /3 through- 

 out the montane zone to the highest elevations. Fl. Aug.-October, also 

 Dec- Feb. ; brilliant blue, in var. /3 paler. 



Endemic. 



One of our commonest and most beautiful flowers, now well known in 

 cultivation at home. A bitter tonic ; given in mild fevers. Var. /3 is 

 referred in Fl. B. Ind. to E. Walkeri, on account of the shorter an- 

 thers. But these vary considerably, and in other respects the plant is 

 nearer E. zeylaiticuni. Wight, 111. t. 157 b, f i. (called E. Walkeri)^ repre- 

 sents this. It is scarcely deserving of separation. 



4. E. macranthum, Am. in Anti. Nat. Hist. iii. 88 (1839). 

 Griseb. in DC. Prod. ix. 46. Thw. Enum. 203. C. P. 1877. 

 Fl. B. Ind. iv. 97 {E. zeylanicum, var.). Bot. Mag. t. 4771. 



Stem i-i^ft, stout, nearly cylindrical below, bluntly qua- 

 drangular above, slightly branched ; 1. sessile, 2^-4h in., broadly 

 or narrowly lanceolate, tapering to broad base, acute, rather 

 thick, margin slightly reflexed, strongly 3- (or 5-) nerved, 

 nerves pellucid, prominent beneath, glaucous green and paler 



