Embelia.] XLVII. MYRSINE^l. 285 



not generally exceeding the length of leaf. Bracts subulate, shorter than 

 pedicels. Petals oblong, reflexed. . Stamens in male flowers long-exserted. 

 Berry dry, spherical, nearly J in. diam., generally with more or less dis- 

 tinct longitudinal ribs. 



Common in western India, Bengal, Behar, and the sub-Himalayan tract as far 

 as the Jumna. Trunk short, erect, branchlets covered with numerous callous 

 dots, round or linear. Fruit ripens Oct. -March. 



E. villosa, Wall., Behar, leaves soft villous underneath, flower-racemes long, 

 slender, 4-6 in. long, is closely allied to this, if specifically distinct. 



3. MYRSINE, Linn. 



Sbrubs or small trees, with coriaceous leaves. Flowers small, on short 

 pedicels, in dense clusters, usually from the axils of fallen leaves. Calyx 

 4- or 5-lobed. Corolla deeply 4- or 5-lobed. Stamens as many ; anthers 

 erect, ovate or lanceolate, on very short filaments. Ovary free, style 

 short. 



Small trees, wholly glabrous ; fruit clustered. 



Leaves serrate ; main lateral nerves few . . . . 1. M. semiserrata. 



Leaves entire ; main lateral nerves numerous, indistinct . 2. M. capitellata. 



A shrub, branchlets pubescent ; fruit solitary . . . . 3. M. qfricana. 



1. M. semiserrata, Wall. ; Fl. Ind. ed. Carey, ii. 293 j Tent. Fl. Nep. 

 t. 24. Vern. Parwana, kungkung, gogsa, bamora, gaunta, N.W.P. ; Bilsi, 

 beresi, kaMkatha, Nepal. (M. acuminata; Vern. Chupra, Kamaon, 

 Madden Journ. As. Soc. xvii. i. 368, is probably the same species). 



A small or middle-sized tree, glabrous, with resinous leaf-buds. Leaves 

 coriaceous, lanceolate, 3-5 in. long, narrowed into a short petiole, entire 

 or sharply serrate from the middle to the apex, sprinkled with numerous 

 resinous pellucid dots, edge revolute, midrib prominent beneath ; main 

 lateral nerves anastomosing by prominent reticulate and intramarginal 

 veins. Flowers small, scentless, tetrandrous or pentandrous, polygamous, 

 white, with a light pink tinge, on short pedicels in numerous axillary 

 rounded fascicles, with small, ovate deciduous brownish scales at the base. 

 Calyx persistent. Corolla-tube very short, lobes more than twice the 

 length of calyx, oblong, recurved. All parts of the flower with resinous 

 dots. Anthers ovate exserted. Ovules 3-4, semi-immersed in a horizontal 

 line round the globose fleshy free placenta. Style short, with a fleshy 

 stigma, expanding from a tubular base into a large unilateral, 3-lobed 

 fimbriated limb. Drupe the size of a pea, red, globose, a little depressed, 

 smooth and shining ; exocarp soft, fleshy, endocarp crustaceous. Seed 

 one, globose. Embryo cylindric, slightly curved, surrounded by a carti- 

 laginous albumen, slightly ruminated and pitted on the outside. 



Outer Himalayan ranges, 3000-9000 ft., from the Bias to Bhutan. Fl. and 

 fr. Dec-March. In favourable places attains 30-40 ft. Bark ash-coloured, often 

 dark, nearly black, longitudinally wrinkled, with many prominent, callous 

 dots. The fruit is eaten. Wallich states that the wood is chocolate-coloured, 

 compact, heavy hard handsome and much esteemed in Nepal for carpenter's 

 work. 



