134 11ET1CACEM. [ DEBREGEASIA. 



monoecious or dioecious, in dense globose panicled spicate or 

 -sessile clusters, bracts of male clusters scarious. MALE flowers : 

 Perianth usually 4 (rarely 3 or 5)-partite, lobes valvate. Stamens 

 4, rarely 3 or 5, inflexed in bud. Pistillode glabrous or woolly 

 at the base. FEM. flowers : Perianth ovoid or obovoid, with a 

 contracted and minutely toothed mouth, succulent in fruit. Ovary 

 straight, included ; stigma sessile, pennicillate ; ovule erect. Fruit 

 an achene, at first adnate to the fleshy perianth. Seed with mem- 

 branous testa, albumen copious or scanty, cotyledons short and 

 broad. Species 5, in Trop. Asia and Africa. 



Flower-heads in 2-chotomous cymes ; male 

 sepals exceeding the bracteoles ; leaves clothed 

 beneath with ash-coloured tomentum . 1. I), velutina. 



Flower-heads sessile or subeessile ; male sepals 

 shorter than the bracteoles ; leaves clothed 

 beneath with snow-white tomentum . 2. D. hypoleuca. 



1. D. velutina Gaud, in Bot. Voy. Bonite t. 90 ; F. B. I. F, 590 ; 

 Watt E. D. ; Comm. Prod. Ind. ' 160 ; Kanjilal For. Fl. (ed. 2), 

 383 ; Gamble, Man. 660 ; Cooke FL Bomb, 'ii, 640 ; Brandis Ind. 

 Trees 618. D. longifolia, Wedd. ; Brandis For. Fl. 405. Vern. 

 Tushidriy sidru (Dehra Dun). 



A tall erect shrub or small tree ; bark thin, brown, rough ; branches 

 and petioles pubescent or tomentose. Leaves 2-7 in. long, linear 

 or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, serrulate, upper surface rugose, 

 pubecent or scabrid and dark-green, veins prominently reticulate ; 

 lower surface ashy-tomentose ; base rounded or acute, 3-nerved 

 and with 2-3 pairs from the mid rib above ; petioles J-l in. ; stipules 

 scarious, 2-fid. Flowers in compact heads, arranged in lateral 2- 

 chotomous cymes. MALE FLOWERS : Sepals 4, exceeding the brac- 

 teoles. Stamens 4. FEM. FLOWERS : Perianth tubular, with a 

 small 4-toothed mouth. Fruiting dusters J in. in diam., consisting 

 of an aggregation of fleshy perianths and their contained achene s. 



Dehra Dun and eastwards along the Sub- Himalayan tracts. Flowers 

 during July and Aug. and the fruit ripens during the cold seasons 

 DISTRIB. : Sub-trop, Himalaya up to 5,000 ft. from Garhwal to Sikkim, 

 also in Assam, and on the Khasia Hills ; ard from Konkan to S. 

 India and Ceylon, extending to Java. The strong fibre yielded by 

 the stems is used for ropes and bow-strings. The orange-coloured 

 ripe fruit resembles a small raspberry and is eaten. 



