TERNSTRCEMIACEiE. 39 



clasping the stem at the base ; midrib strong, veins four 

 from the base, very slender; glands in the leaf as round 

 pellucid dots. Flowers at the ends of the main stem and 

 its branches, in comparatively large loose cymes ; bracts 

 and sepals quite entire, without any stalked glands. 

 Flower J4 inch diameter pale yellow. Stamens all free, 

 not in bundles. Ovary one-celled, with three parietal 

 placentas and three very short (1/20 inch) styles. Capsule 

 Ye inch, red. Seeds flat short oblong, with about seven 

 longitudinal ribs and numerous transverse striations. 

 t. 31. 



Very common in moist places or shallow standing water. 

 Nilgiris : Ootacamund downs and golf links, Pykara. Pulneys : 

 Kodaikanal downs. Fyson 1182, 2667. Boiirfie 18. 



Gen. Dist. Anamalais, Ganjam, Poonachi hills but on the ghats to the 

 north rare, and recorded in C.B.F. from Castlerock, S. M. country, only. 

 Widely distributed in eastern temperate climates, Himalayas, Khasi hills, 

 Assam, Burma, and on to China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. 



TERNSTRCEMIACE/E. 



Tribes—TERNSTRCEMIACEM and GORDONIEM. 



Woody plants with alternate, thick or hard leaves ; 

 flowers solitary on their stalks ; sepals imbricate, and 

 progressively larger, rather hard and often brown ; petals 

 imbricate and lightly attached to each other at the base ; 

 stamens numerous, sometimes attached to the base of 

 the petals ; ovary three to five-celled, with a single 

 style. Rather characteristic of the family are the hard, 

 comparatively large, buds. 



A family of some 240 species, common in the tropics of 

 Asia and America, but very rare in Africa ; absent from 

 Australia, and practically so from all temperate climates. 



Economically the most important member is the Tea-plant, Camellia 

 theifera Griffs a native of Assam and China. Another species of the same 

 "genus, C. japonica Z,, is cultivated in European gardens, for its rose-like but 

 scentless flowers. 



