Machilus.] cxxvm. LAUBINE.E. (J. D. Hooker.) 139 



flowers ^ in. diarn. Perianth-lobes oblong, finely tomentose without and within. 

 Filaments long-, villous ; anthers narrow. Fruit unknown. A very distinct-looking 

 plant from its large broad membranous leaves and large long-pedicelled flowers. 



9. DX. sericea, Blume Hus. Sot. i. 330; branches very stout and 

 panicles hoary-pubescent, leaves long-petioled 6-8 in. coriaceous oblong- 

 lanceolate acuminate young silky beneath, nerves very slender, panicles 

 4-8 in. long, branches usually short few-fld. Meissn. in D C. Prodr. xv. 1. 41. 

 Phoebe sericea, Nees Syst. Laurin. 99 (excL syn. Fl. Nep.) ; 'Meissn. I. c. 35. 

 Ocotea sericea, Nees in Wall. PI. As. JRar. ii. 71, and iii. 32. Lauras 

 sericea, Wall. Cat. 2606. 



CENTRAL HIMALAYA; Nepal and Kumaon, in the Deyra hoon, Wallich. 



Branches as thick as a swan's quill. Leaves when young polymorphous, oblong 

 to lanceolate obtnse acute or acuminate, base acute or rounded, white-silky beneath; 

 old leaves rigidly coriaceous,T)rown when dry, rather glaucous beneath, finely reticu- 

 late on both surfaces; nerves 12-15 pair, arched; petiole 1-1 i i Q ' Panicles some- 

 times very long, with few short branches ; flowers shortly pedicelled, ^ ^ in. diam. 

 Filaments short, hairy ; anthers narrow. Fruit unknown. Wallich's. specimens of 

 Laurus sericea, A, B, C, may or may not belong to one species ; it is described by 

 Nees as a Phoebe; but Blume afterwards separated some of the specimens as Machilus 

 sericea, observing that it differs from the Phcebe in the absence of rings (caused by 

 the fall of the bud-scales) at the bases of the branches. This difference is due to the 

 age of the branches, of which the old bear scars of scales, which scales the first year's 

 shoots do not bear. Meissner quotes Wallich's 2606 B under both. The specimens 

 are very bad, and are all possibly referable to M. odoratissima, but the petioles are 

 longer. The Nepal specimens have hairy filaments and anthers, those of the Ku- 

 maon ones are glabrous. When the Western Himalayan Machili are cleared up, 

 M. sericea will probably be suppressed as being a composite book -species. 



10. M. odoratissima, Nees in Wall. PI. As. Ear. ii. 70, and Syst. 

 Laurin. 172 ; glabrous except the panicle, leaves 3-9 in. long-petioled lan- 

 ceolate or oblong or elliptic-lanceolate acuminate usually slightly glaucous 

 beneath, nerves slender, panicles long- or short-peduncled hoary -tomentose 

 or glabrous, flowers glabrous Or pubescent, fruit oblong or globose. Meissn. 

 in DC. Prodr. xv. 1. 40 ; Brand. For. Fl. 378 ; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 308 ; 

 Blume Mus. Bot. i. 329. M. indica, Kurz For. Fl. ii. 291 ; Miguel Fl. 

 Ind. Bat. i. ]. 914 (excl. var.fi.). M. rimosa, Blume I. c. 330; ? Meissn. I. c. 

 42 ; ? Kurz I. c. 292. Laurus odoratissima, Wall. Cat. 2607. L. indica, 

 Lour. Fl. Cock. i. 311 (ex Nees). L. Champa and L. bombycina, Herb. 

 Hamilt. 



STJBTBOPICAL and TEMPEEATE HIMALAYA, from Murree eastwards ; ascending 

 to 8000 ft. in Sikkim ; ASSAM and the KHASIA MTS. TENASSEBIM and MAETABAN, 

 alt. 3-7000 ft. ? SINGAPOEE, Wallich. DISTEIB. Java, Sumatra, Cochin China. 



A large tree, stunted at high elevations, shoots pubescent. Leaves very variable 

 in breadth, coriaceous; nerves irregular, usually 15-20 pair; petiole |-f in., slender. 

 Panicles about equalling the leaves, but very variable, loosely branched ; peduncle 

 glabrous hoary or subsilkily pubescent, as are the flowers, which are sometimes 

 corymbose on tffe short branches. Perianth -| in: diam. ; lobes oblong obtuse, 

 lengthening a little after flowering. Filaments glabrous or slightly hairy ; anthers 

 oblong, rarely hairy. Fruit - in. long. I am very much puzzled with this plant, 

 and suspect that it consists of several species, the differences being marked between 

 the specimens with glabrous and those with silkily pubescent perianths, and those 

 with globose and with oblong fruit. The type of the*species is Laurus odoratissimus, 

 Wall. Cat. 2607, from Nepal, which has copiously silkily pubescent shoots and panicles 

 (which however are hardly developed); No. 2607 C and D (from Herb. Hamilton) 

 with globose fruit seem the same ; and other specimens with globose fruit are from 

 Sikkim and Simla. The other form is Wallich's 2607 B from Kumaon, with glabrous 



