Litscea.] cxxvin. LAURINE.E. (,T. D. Hooker.) 157 



A bushy tree, branches terete ; buds scaly, glabrous. Leaves 2-3 in., rather mem- 

 branous, greenish when dry, not glaucous beneath, base rounded or cuneate ; petiole 

 in., very slender. Umbels in bud in. long, erect on a rather stout pedicel in. 

 long. Fevers very young, 9?, filaments villous; anthers 4-celled. Meissner de- 

 scribes this as a Lindera, but I find that I many years ago made a note that the 

 anthers are 4-celled, and on a second examination I am confirmed in this. I am 

 not positive as to the leaves being deciduous, judging from appearance only. 



Sect. II. Eulitsaoa, Benth. Leaves persistent, alternate, penninerved. 

 Perianth-segments very incomplete or 0, tube not or slightly enlarged in 

 fruit. Stamens often more than 12. 



5. Xi. tomentosa, Herb. Heyne, ex Watt. Cat. 2550 ; densely softly 

 tomentose except the leaves above, leaves 3-7 in. alternate penninerved 

 coriaceous elliptic or oblong obtuse acute or acuminate, nerves 8-10 pair, 

 umbels large solitary many-fld., perianth incomplete or 0, fruit globose on 

 the small thickened perianth -tube. Tetranthera tomentosa, Roxb. ex Wall. 

 Cat. 1. c. A, B ; Meissn. in DC. Prodr. xv. 1. 177 (excl. habitat of Sirmore 

 and citat. of Nees) ; Wight Ic. 1. 1834 ; Kurz For. Fl. ii. 297 (description 

 only}. T. apetala, Dalz. Sf'Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 222. T. japonica fern., Herb 

 Wight. Laurine^, Wall. Cat. 7455. 



DECCAN PENINSULA ; on the Western Ghats, from the Concan southwards. 

 CEYLON ; Central Province, ascending to 4000 ft. 



An evergreen tree ; branchlets stout. Leaves pale when dry, finely reticulated 

 above, laxly beneath, base acute or rounded ; petiole - in. Umbels |-f in. diam.; 

 'pedicel as long, stout; bracts 4, tomentose on both surfaces; flowers very shortly 

 pedicelled. Stamens 18-20, filaments .long, slender, villous ; glands long-pedicelled. 

 Fruit \ in. diam. Griffith's .Mergui plant, and Wallich's 2550 C (not A as quoted 

 by Meissner), are flowerless specimens of L. sebifera, as is probably Meissner's 

 var. . ? birmanica, which I have not seen. Kurz, who introduces the latter in his 

 Forest Flora on Meissner' s authority, never saw it. .1 have no idea what Gamble's 

 T. tomentosa from Sikkim, alt. 6-8000 ft., is (Man. Ind. Timb. 310) ; his Birman 

 T. tomentosa is doubtless L. sebifera, var. tomentosa. Wallich's lithographed ticket, 

 " No. 7455, Laurin." is attached to a sheet without a specimen ; but another sheet, 

 also marked 7455 in pencil, contains a specimen of L. tomentosa. 



6. L. sebifera, Pers. Syn. ii. 4 ; glabrous or tomentose, leaves alternate 

 3-9 in. coriaceous or chartaceous elliptic ovate or oblong, tip acute obtuse or 

 rounded, nerves 8-10 pair, umbels corymbose or racemose usually long- 

 pedicelled few- or many-fld., perianth very incomplete or 0, fruit globose on 

 the small thickened perianth-tube. 



Throughout the hotter parts of INDIA, from the PANJAB and lower HIMALAYA at 

 GABWHAL, eastwards to SIKKIM, ASSAM and the KHASIA MTS., the GANGETIC 

 PLAIN and BENGAL ; and southwards to MALACCA and throughout the DECCAN PE- 

 NINSTJ-LA. CEYLON, ascending to 3000 ft. DISTEIB. Malay Islands, China, Australia 

 (introd. in Mauritius). 



An evergreen tree, 20-50 ft., of protean habit foliage and inflorescence. Leaves 

 subterminal on the branches, pale when dry ; petiole ^-1 in. Umbels few or many, 

 - in. diam. ; pedicels clustered on a stout or slender common peduncle -3 in. long ; 

 bracts 4, more or less tomentose. Stamens 9-20 or more, filaments more or less 

 villous. Fruit the size of a pea, pedicel sometimes thickened. I recognize three 

 principal forms of this variable plant: 1, leaves usually thin, glabrous or nearly so, 

 often small, oblong, tip rounded; 2, leaves much larger, more pubescent beneath, and 

 more or less acute; 3, leaves large, ovate or oblong, acute, thickly tomentose beneath 

 or on both surfaces (as in states of L. tomentosa, for which flowerless specimens have 

 been taken by Nees and Meissner). The varieties proposed by Blume and Meissner 

 may be grouped as follows. I am compelled to query Jacquin's plate of laurifolia, 



