542 ex. THYMELE.ICR.T', 



or hairs at the moutli ; lobes 4-5, imbricate in bud. Stamens as many 

 or twice as many as the perianth-lobes (rarely half as many), adnata to 

 the perianth-tube, those opposite the lobes usually attached above the 

 alternate ones ; filaments short, rarely as long as the anthers ; anthers 

 erect, 2-celled, the cells parallel, dehiscing longitudinally. Disk annular, 

 cupular, scaly or obsolete. Ovary superior, 1 (rarely 2)-celled ; ovule 

 1 in each cell, anatropous, pendulous from near the apex of the cell ; 

 style sliort or long, terminal or eccentric ; stigma capitate. Fruit a 

 small berry, drupe, or nut (rarely capsular). Seed solitary or 1 in each 

 cell, pendulous or lateral ; albumen fleshy, copious or ; cotyledons 

 fleshy, usually thick ; radicle short, superior. — Disteib. Genera nearly 

 40, in Africa, Australia, Asia, Mediterranean region, America ; species 

 about 360. 



1. LASIOSIPHON, Fresen. 



Shrubs. Leaves opposite or scattered. Flowers hermaphrodite, in 

 dense sessile or pedunculate heads ; bracts broad. Perianth often 

 silky-pubescent ; tube cylindric, circumscissile above the ovary ; lobes 5, 

 spreading, with 5 small scales alternating with them. Stamens 10, 

 attached to the throat below the scales in 2 rows, the upper or all 

 shortly exserted ; filaments very short ; anthers oblong or linear. 

 Disk or shortly annulate. Ovary superior, 1-celled ; ovule solitary, 

 pendulous ; style long, filiform ; stigma capitate. Fruit small, dry, 

 included in the perianth-tube ; pericarp membranous. Seed with a 

 crustaceous testa. — Distrib. Tropical and S. Africa, Madagascar, 

 Tropical Asia ; species about 25. 



1. Lasiosiphon eriocephalus, Decmsne,iii Jacq. Voij. Bot. (1844) 

 p. 148. A much-branched shrub, sometimes a small tree, with mottled 

 bark. Leaves subsessile, 2-3 by |-1 in., oblong-lanceolate, acute, api- 

 culate, glaucous and glabrous above, glabrous or silky beneath, base 

 acute ; petioles very short. Flowers yellow, nearly sessile, in erect 

 dense terminal heads 1-1| in. in diam., surrounded at the base by an 

 involucre of large imbricate elliptic-oblong, acute, silky-villous deciduous 

 bracts. Perianth densely silky-villous ; tube | in. long ; lobes yV-^ in. 

 long, oblong, obtuse, flat, with a linear usually 2-fid scale at each division. 

 Anthers almost sessile. Fruit |— ^ in. long, ellipsoid-oblong, pointed, 

 enclosed in the perianth. Fl. B. I. v. 5, p. 197 ; Bedd. For. Man. in 

 Flor. Sylvat. p. clxxix & Anal. Gen. t. 25, fig. 2 ; Trim. Fl. Cevl. v. 3, 

 p. 459"; Talb. Trees, Bomb. ed. 2, p. 286; Woodr. in Journ.' Bomb. 

 Kat, V. 12 (1899) p. 367; Waft, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 4, p. 589. 

 Lafdosiphon speciosKS, Decne. 1. c. p. 147, t. 150 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 221. 

 Gniclia eriocej^)hala, Meissn. in liegensb. Denkschr. v. 3 (1841) p. 292; 

 Grab. Cat. p. 176 ; Wight, Icon, t, 1859.— Flowers : Dec-May. 

 Veen, liumetha. 



Bahell without locality in Herb. Tvcw. ! Konkan : Law'., TaUivt ; Matlieran, 

 Cooke\, H. M. Binlwuucl. Dkccan : Khamlala, Bahell Sc Gibson; Karli, Bahell.^- 

 Gibson ; Mahabiesliwar, coinmon, C'ooi:el, H. M. Birdicood. S. M. CorNTur : 

 Belgaum hills, RUchie, 6;i7 ! Kanaka: common on tlie Su2Ja Ghats of N. Kanara, 

 Talbot. — DiSTKiB. India (W. Peiiintiula); Ci\vlon. 



Tiie bark is used by the liill-tribes fur tying up bundles, and has been recommended 

 for use as a paper-making material. It is a powerful vesicant and frequently 

 employed to poison fish in the small hill-8treams. See Walt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 1. r. 



