CIX. LAURACE.i:. 541 



Icon. tt. 132 and 1844 ; Bedd. Flor. Sylvat. t. 294 ; Trim. FI. Ceyl. 

 V. 3, p. 454 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 286 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. 

 Nat. V. 12 (1899) p. 367 ; Praiu, Beng. PI. p. 902 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. V. 5, p. 85. — Flowers : Oct.-Jan. Vern. Kdnvel ; OhircMra. 



Dalzell without locality in Herb. Kew. ! Konkan : moist forests, Talbot. Deccan : 

 Mahableshwar, Cooke !, Woodi-ow, H. M. Binlwood. S. M. Country : Parva Ghat, 

 Bahell tf- Gibson. Kanaka : Stocks ! ; iu moist forests, common, TcMot. — Distrib. 

 India (Bhotan and the Khasia Mountains, Silhet, Chittagong, W. Peninsula) ; Ceylon, 

 Sumatra, Java. 



8. CASSYTHA, Linn. 



Filiform twining parasites adhering to their host by suckers. Leaves 

 consisting of minute scales or 0. Flowers small, hermaphrodite, some- 

 times dimorphic, spicate, capitate or racemose ; bracteoles 3. Perianth- 

 tube short and globose, or (often in the same species) as long as the 

 limb and tui'binate ; segments 6, the 3 outer smaller. Perfect stamens 

 9 or 6 ; filaments of first row eglandular with introrse 2-celled anthers, 

 those of the second row similar or sometimes reduced to staminodes, 

 those of the third row with 2-glaudular filaments and extrorse anthers, 

 those of the fourth row replaced by sessile or stipitate staminodes. 

 Ovary globose, free in flov^er, closely covered by the enlarged perianth 

 in fruit ; stigma subsessile, small or capitate. Fruit a small drupe 

 enclosed in the succulent perianth-tube and crowned by the perianth- 

 limb. Seed with thin testa ; cotyledons ultimately confluent. — Disteib. 

 Species 15, of which 1 is widely spread through the Tropics, 1 or 2 

 S. African, 1 from Borneo, and the rest Australian. 



1. Cassytha filiformis, Linn. Bp. PI. (1753) p. 35. A parasitic 

 herbaceous leafless plant ; stems very long, cord-like, twined and matted 

 together, branched, glabrous or pubescent, dark green. Flowers small, 

 sessile, in lax lateral divaricate spikes |-2 in. long; bracteoles small, 

 rounded, ciliate. Perianth twice as long as the bracteoles ; tube short ; 

 segments 6 in 2 rows, the 3 outer segments short, rounded, ciliate, the 

 inner oblong, acute, concave, valvate. Fruit about | in. in diam., white, 

 globose, smooth, enclosed in the fleshy perianth-tube and crowned with 

 the erect perianth-segments. Fl. B. I. v. 5, p. 188 ; Grah. Cat. p. 175 ; 

 Dalz. & Gibs. p. 223; Wight, Icon. t. 1847; Trim. Fl. Cevl. v. 3, 

 p. 455 ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 286 ; Woodr. in Joarn. Bomb. Nat 

 V. 12 (1899) p. 367 ; Praiu, Beng. PI. p. 904 ; Watt, Diet. Eeon. Prod. 

 V. 2, p. 226. — Flowers : Sept. Veen. Amarvel. 



Throughout, the Presidency often growing on Ipomoea biloha near the sea-coast, 

 Talbot. KoNKAN : common in hedges, Graham, Dalzell cf Gibson; Shrivardhan, 

 Kanitkarl — Distrib. Throughout India near the coast; Ceylon, Arabia, Mascarene 

 Islands, Tropical East Asia and Islands, Australia, Polynesia, Tropical Africa, and 

 America. 



Oedee ex. THYMELE^CE^. 



Shrubs or small trees with tough fibrous bark. Leaves alternate or 

 opposite, simple, quite entire. Flowers usually hermaphrodite, in 

 axillary or terminal heads, umbels, clusters, or racemes. Perianth regular, 

 tubular or campanulate, often corolline, frequently with a ring of scales 



