34 APOCYNACE&. [ALSTONIA. 



L. pusilla, K. ScJinm in Engl. and Prantl. Pflanzenf. iv, part 2, 145 ; 

 Coolee Fl. Bomb, ii, 129. Vinca pusilla, Murr. ; F. B. L Hi, 640; Watt 

 E, D. V. parviflora, Eetz. ; Roxb. FL Ind. ii, 1; Eoyle III. 270. 



An erect much-branched pale-green glabrous annual, 6-24 in. high. Stem 

 and branches acutely 4-angled. Leaves membranous, l|-3 in. long, 

 lanceolate, acuminate, tapering to the base, margins minutely scabrid, 

 petiole i in. or less. Flowers small, solitary or in pairs, pedicels very 

 short. Calyx &- in. long, lobes filiform. Corolla-tube | in ; mouth narrow, 

 hairy, throat glabrous inside ; lobes in. long, oblong-obovate/'apiculate. 

 Follicles H-2 in. long, slender, straight, striate, glabrous. Seeds ^ in. 

 long, cylindric, rounded at the ends, muricately ribbed, black when 

 ripe. 



A common weed in many parts of the area. DISTBIB. W. Himalaya up 

 to 2,000 feet, also in W., Cent, and S. India extending to Ceylon. 



4. ALSTONIA, R. Br. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. iii, 641. 



Trees or erect shrubs. Leaves usually whorled. Flowers in 

 sub terminal corymbose cymes. Calyx short, 6-lobed or-partite. 

 Corolla salver-shaped, tube cylindric ; throat naked, closed by a ring 

 of reflexed hairs ; lobes overlapping to the right or left. Stamens 

 included, attached near the top of the tube ; anthers free from the 

 stigma, subacute. Disk annular or 0, lobed. Carpels 2, distinct ; 

 style filiform, top ovoid or oblong, stigma minute or 2-toothed, ovules 

 numerous. Follicles 2, linear, slender. Seeds oblong or linear, 

 flattened, peltately attached, often ciliate, albumen scanty ; cotyledons 

 oblong, flat, radicle superior. Species about 30, in Tropical Asia* 

 Australia and Polynesia. 



A- scholaris, R. Br. in Mem. Wern. 8oc. i, 75 ; Royle III. 270 Brand. 



For. Fl.325;F. B. I. tit, 642; Watt E. D. ; Kanjilal For. Fl. 233; 



Gamble Man. Ind. Timb.; Prain Beng.. PL 672; Cooke Fl. Bomb, ii, 132. 



Vern Sdtidn. 



A large evergreen tree with milky juice, up to 60 feet or more in height, 

 with dark-grey bark. Stem fluted and usually buttressed towards 

 the base ; branches whorled, the smaller ones densely lenticellate. 

 Leaves in verticils of 4-7, coriaceous, bright-green and shining above, 

 pale or glaucous beneath, 3-8 in. long, oblong lanceolate or obovate, 

 obtuse or shortly and bluntly acuminate, tapering at the base into a 

 short petiole ; main lateral nerves many, parallel and almost at right 

 angles to the stout midrib, uniting close to the edge into an intramar- 

 ginal vein. Flowers greenish white, arranged in compact umbellately 

 branched pubescent cymes ; main peduncles stout, 2-3 in. long ; second- 

 ary ones slender, often supported by a leaf-like spathulate bract ; 

 pedicels short, bracteoles oblong or ovate. Calyx T ^-| in. long, pubescent : 



