^6 Euphorbiace^. \Heviicyclia. 



Moist low country; very rare. Ambagamuwa Dist., at about 2000 ft. 

 (Thwaites). Fl, March; yellow. 



Endemic. 



The leaves are dotted beneath with glands which exude a waxy 

 excretion; the buds also excrete a gum. I have only seen Thwaites's 

 specimens. The stones of the fruit are in India strung together to form 

 rosaries by Hindu fakirs, and by parents to wear as a charm round the 

 necks of their children. 



13. HZ:MZCYCZ.ZA, JV.andA. 



Evergreen trees or shrubs; 1. alternate; fl. small, dioecious, 

 apetalous ; male fl. clustered, sepals 4-5, imbricate, ribbed, 

 inner larger; disk orbicular; stam. 4-many; pistillode o; 

 fem. fl. subsolitary ; sep. of male ; disk flat, annular ; ov. ovoid, 

 i-2-celled, cells 2-ovuled, stigmas 1-2, broad, orbicular, reni- 

 form or flabelliform ; fr. an ovoid, fusiform or ellipsoid, 

 I -seeded drupe, endocarp bony, crustaceous, or coriaceous ; 

 seeds arilled, laterally grooved, endosperm fleshy, cotyledons 

 broad, flat. — Sp. 9 ; 8 in F/. B. Ind. 



Fruit globose i. H. SEPIARIA. 



Fruit oval or ovoid. 



Stam. 10-16 2. H. L.\NCE0LATA. 



Stam. 20-24 3- H. Gardneri. 



I. H. seplarla, W. and A. in Edinb. New Phil. Jour7i. xiv. 297 

 (1833). Wira, .?. Virai, T. 



Thw. in Kew Journ. Bot. vii. 271 ; Enum. 287. C. P. 2120. 

 Fl. B. Ind. v. lyj. Wight, Ic. t. 1872. 



A rigid much- branched shrub, 6-9 ft. high; shoots pube- 

 rulous ; 1. 1^-3^ in. long, broadly oval or oblong, entire or 

 repand-toothed, very coriaceous, glabrous, tip rounded, obtuse 

 or retuse, base rounded or cordate, veins very faint ; fl. villous, 

 male \ in. across, in bracteolate axillary clusters or short 

 racemes; fem. fl. subsessile, pedicel elongating; sep. 4, broad ; 

 stam. 6-8 on a cupular disk, fil. slender ; ov. 1-2-cclled, stigma 

 peltate; fr. fusiform, \ in. diam., endocarp bony. 



Forests of the dry region ; very common. Said to be absent from 

 Mannar. Fl. Feb.-March. 



Also in S. India. 



This is probably the commonest tree over large tracts of the dry 

 forest. It grows to no great size, and in a gnarled and twisted manner, 

 and the wood, though hard, is thus of little value. 



The small, round, crimson fruit is ripe in June, and much eaten by 

 the natives. It is sweet, with somewhat of the taste and smell of dates, 

 but more insipid. 



