L. .S.VMFIIAGACK.E. 4C)[\ 



possible tliiit it could be iiuligenous at MaLhcran. It has not hicn 

 t'oiiiul ."inywliere else in the lioinbay Presideni-y, aud there is ap;jarently 

 but one tree on the Matheran hill. 



Order L. SAXIFRAGACEiE. 



Trees, shrubs, or herbs of various habit. Leaves alternate and exsti' 

 pulat^i or with stipules adi\ate to the base of the petiole, or opposite and 

 exstipulato. Flowers usually heriiiaplirodite ; sepals, petals, and stamens 

 symmetrically regular. Calyx usually 5-merous, more or less adnate to 

 the ovary ; lobes imbricate or valvate. Petals 5 or 4 (rarely 0), usually 

 perigynous, often small, imbricate or valvate. Stamens inserted with 

 the petals, equalling or double their number, rarely indeliiiite. Ovary 

 of 2 or 3-5 united carpels, usually 2- or 3-5-celled with axile placentas, 

 occasionally 1-celIcd with parietal placentas ; ovules numerous, ana- 

 tropous, erect or pendulous ; styles as many as the carpels, free or more 

 or less connate ; stigma capitate, or lateral and subcapita^e. Fruit 

 capsular or baccate. Seeds usuiilly numerous, usually albuminous. — 

 DiSTKic. Cold and temperate regions of the world and in the mountains 

 of the Tropics ; genera 72 ; species about 580. 



1. VAHLIA, Thuub. 



Annual or biennial hei'bs. Leaves opposite, entire ; stipules 0. 

 Flowers small, regular, axillary, usuall}' in pairs, white or yellowish. 

 Calyx-tube hemispheric, adnate to the ovary ; lobes 5, ovate or lanceo- 

 late, valvate. Petals 5, usually shorter than the calyx-lobss. Stamens 5, 

 epigynous ; filaments subulate. Ovary inferior, 1-celled, with 2 pen- 

 dulous placentas ; ovules numerous : styles 2, distinct ; stigma capitellate. 

 Capsule dehiscing at the apex between the styles. Seeds numerous, 

 zninute, ellipsoid, smooth. — Disteib. Tropical and subtropical Asia, 

 Tropical and S. Africa; species 3. 



1. Vahlia viscosa, Boxh. Fl. Lid. v. 2 (1832) p. £9. A glandular- 

 pubescent herb ; stem 0-12 in. high, erect or diffuse, branched. Leaves 

 ^-1 by Y^^— f in., subsessile, oblong-lanceolate, acute or subobtuse, 

 glabrous or nearly so ; midrib promiuent beneath. Flowers solitary or 

 in pairs in most of the upper axils ; pedicels very short. Calyx |-i in. 

 long, glandular-pubescent; tube hemispheric; lubes about as long as or 

 a little shorter than the tube, triangular-ovate, acute. Petals white 

 (Dalzell, following Eoxburgh, says yellow), not exserted beyond the 

 calyx-lobes, ovate-elliptic, acute. Stamens not exserted beyond the 

 calyx-lobes. Capsules ^ in. in diam., subglobose. Seeds minute, 

 numerous. Fl. B. I. v. 2, p. 399 ; Wight, Icon. t. 563; Aitch. Pb. & 

 Sind PI. p. 58 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 90 ; AVoodr. in Jouru. Bomb. Xat. v. 

 11 (1898) p. G35.— Flowers : Jan. 



Konkan: Karanja (Bombaj* harbour), DaZ-e/^ ij- Gihson; Divale, 23 miles east of 

 Ratnagiri, Woodrow ; Murslii, foot of Ainbeghat, between Kolapur and Ratnagiri, 

 Batmde I Gujarat: DaheJl ^- Gihson. Sixd : SfocAsl; near Karachi, Cooke \ — 

 Disteib. Throughout India in dry localities ; Persia, Egypt, Tropical Africa. 



