Lorafithus.'] LorauthacecB. 469 



Branches stout, thickened at nodes, bark grey, cracked, 

 not lenticellate ; 1. large, opp., nearly sessile, l\-6 in., oval or 

 oblong-lanceolate, tapering to base, obtuse, undulate, glabrous, 

 coriaceous, pale green, veins obscure ; fl. on very short ped., 

 4-10 in shortly stalked umbellate racemes, several of which 

 come from one axil or node, bracts very short ; cal. glabrous, 

 limb very short, truncate ; cor.-tube | in., straight, not split, 

 slightly inflated, glabrous, lobes as long as tube, upper half 

 recurved ; fruit about \ in., ovoid-pyriform, orange. 



Moist region up to 7000 ft.; common. Fl. nearly all the year; tube 

 orange-pink, lobes pale green, or all red. 



Also in S. India. 



The cor.-lobes separate first from the base, the upper halves remaining 

 connate, and finally splitting apart and folding back suddenly and 

 explosively. 



15. Ii. G-ardneri, Thw. Entitn. 133 (1859). 

 C. P. 1644. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 218. 



Branches long, cylindrical, stout, swollen at nodes, bark 

 silvery-grey, twigs shining, purple, young parts glabrous ; 1. 

 large 3^-6 in., oblong-oval or lanceolate, acute or slightly 

 rounded at base, acuminate, coriaceous, penninerved, pale 

 green above, nearly white with purple prominent midrib 

 beneath, bright pink when young ; fl. sessile, in clusters of 

 5 or 6 on the old wood, bracts forming a whorl or involucre 

 round the cluster, \ in,, lanceolate, attenuate, finely pilose, 

 red; cal. -limb nearly truncate; cor.-tube i-i^ in., slightly 

 curved, dilated in upper half, not split, slightly pilose, lobes 

 less than half as long as tube, very narrowly linear, acute, 

 spreading or recurved ; anth. exserted ; stigma globose \ 

 fruit about | in., oblong-ovoid, red. 



Moist low country up to 3000 ft.; very rare. Hantane; Deltota; 

 Mandagala Forest, Hewesse; Ambagamuwa. Fl. March-May; dark 

 pink, the base of the lobes green. 



Endemic. 



A very handsome plant when growing. 



16. Xi. loniceroides, L. Sp. PL ed. 2, 473 (1762). 



Herm. Mus. 20. Fl. Zeyl. n. 83 (err. typog. Lonicerd). Thw. Enum. 

 133. C. P. 575, 2551. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 221. Wight, Ic. t. 303. 



Bushy, much branched, stems stout, thickened at the 

 nodes, bark brownish-grey, smooth ; 1. opp., 3-4 in., oblong- 

 oval, rounded and suddenly narrowed at base, acuminate, 

 obtuse, somewhat erose on margins, coriaceous, shining, more 

 or less conduplicate, midrib much recurved; fl. rather large, 



