Actinodaphne.'] Lauraceo'. 445 



6. ACTZNODAPKNE, Nees. 



Small trees, 1. semi-verticillate at ends of the branchlets 



(rarely opp.), usually penninerved (rarely 3-nerved at base), 



fl. small, dioecious, in small axillary clusters or umbels, bracts 



several, small, membranous, deciduous ; per.-tube short, segm. 



6, usually deciduous; stam. (reduced to staminodes in fern, fl.) 



usually 9 in three rows, fil, of first and second rows without 



glands, of third row with glands, anth. 4-celled, all introrse ; 



fruit more or less globose, seated on flattened or concave 



enlarged per.-tube. — Sp. 50; 24 in Fl. B. Ind. 



A genus scarcely separable from Litsea. All our species are endemic. 



L. under 5 in., semi-whorled. 



L. rufous-tomentose beneath . . . . i. A. MOLOCH ina. 

 L. glabrous, usually glaucous beneath. 



L. linear-oblong 2. A. stenophylla. 



L. lanceolate 3. A. elegans. 



L. oval. 



Young parts rusty-tomentose . . . 4. A. glauca. 

 Young parts glabrous. 



L. penninerved 5. A. pisifera. 



L. 3-nerved at base 6. A. ambigua. 



L. over 5 in., opp., very tomentose beneath . . 7. A. speciosa. 



I. A. molochina, Nees^ Syst. Lauriti. 603 (1836). 

 Thw. Enum. 257. Meissn. 1. c. 211. C. P. 2273. 

 Fl. B. Ind. V. 150. Wight, Ic. t. 1843. 



Branchlets stout, bark whitish, young parts covered with 

 very dense rufous tomentum ; 1. 4-6 in a whorl, variable, 

 usually small, i|-2| in., broadly obovate-oval, acute at base, 

 rounded or shortly acuminate, acute at apex, glabrous above 

 when mature, rufous-tomentose becoming glabrous beneath, 

 coriaceous and very stiff, penninerved, veins conspicuous 

 beneath impressed above ; fl. on short, hairy ped., bracts 

 rounded, rufous-hairy, perianth rufous-hairy, segm. oblong, 

 obtuse, persistent ; fruit globose, a little over \ in., apiculate, 

 persistent per.-tube flattened. 



Var. /3, IVIoonii, Hk.f. A. Moonii, Thw. Enum. 256. C. P. 74. 

 . A. molochina, wax. glabrescens, Meissn. 1. c. 211. 



L. narrower, acuminate, subacute, less coriaceous and less 

 tomentose. 



Forests of upper montane zone, especially at the highest elevations; 

 common. 



Var. i3, Adam's Peak (Moon); Dolosbagie. Fl. Feb.-April; brownish- 

 yellow. 



Endemic. 



Very variable in the foliage; when young the leaves are densely 



