366 LX. VEEBENACE^l. [Premna. 



form, stigma bifid, sometimes nearly entire. Fruit a fleshy drupe with 

 a hard, rugose or tuberculate 2-4-celled kernel. Albumen none ; radicle 

 inferior. The leaves and twigs of most species have an unpleasant smell 

 when bruised. 



Trees or shrubs, pubescent or glabrate ; stigma bifid, corolla 

 4-lobed. 

 Flowers in trichotomous corymbose panicles. 



Leaves ovate or obovate, acute or short-acuminate ; main 



lateral nerves 2-4 pair 1. P. integrifolia. 



Leaves ovate or ovate-oblong, long-acuminate ; main lat- 

 eral nerves 4-6 pair 2. P. mucronata. 



Flowers in a terminal, cylindrical thyrsus . . . . 3. P. interrupta. 

 A tree, densely stellate-tomentose ; stigma indistinctly bifid, 

 corolla 5-lobed ; calyx in fruit cup-shaped enclosing the 



base of drupe . ,. 4. P. tomentosa. 



A climber ; leaves glabrous, shining 5. P. scandens. 



An herbaceous undershrub 6. P. herbacea. 



1. P. integrifolia, Linn. ; Wight Ic. t. 1469. Syn. P. serratifolia, 

 Linn. ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 77 ; P. spinosa, Eoxb. ib. Vern. BaJcarcha, 

 Garhwal; Ganniari, Oudh. 



A large shrub or middle-sized tree; stem and older branches often 

 armed with strong opposite spines, branchlets unarmed. Leaves pubes- 

 cent when young, ovate or obovate, entire or dentate, blade 2-3 in., 

 petiole J - 1 in. long ; main lateral nerves 2-4 pair. Flowers greenish 

 white, somewhat viscid, exhaling an unpleasant smell, in terminal corym- 

 bose panicles. Calyx 2-lipped or irregularly 5-toothed. Corolla twice 

 the length of calyx, the outer lobe much larger than the others. Drupe 

 black, globose, ^ in. diam. 



South India, Ceylon, Bengal. (Oudh forests, Garhwal, K. Thompson and J. 

 L. Stewart. I have not seen specimens). Indian Archipelago, China, and 

 North Australia. The leaves are shed in Feb., and are renewed between Feb. 

 and April, earlier in moist places, later on poor dry ground. The flowers 

 appear soon after the leaves ; they resemble Elder flowers. Attains 30 ft. with 

 stiff branches. Stem 5 ft. girth, with spines and excrescences. Often a shrub 

 only. Bark cinereous. Branchlets foetid when bruised. Wood white, moder- 

 ately close-grained, no heartwood. The fresh-felled wood frequently exudes a 

 green-coloured sap. 



Closely allied, and perhaps not specifically distinct, is P. latifolia, Roxb. Fl. 

 Ind. iii. 76 ; Wight Ic. t. 869, from South India, said to have been found in 

 Kamaon. 



2. P. mucronata, Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 80. Vern. Barikhar, gian, Pb. ; 

 BaJcar, bakarcha, basota (bas, smell), agniun (tig, fire), tumari, jhatela, 

 N.W.P. 



A small tree, extremities and under side of leaves pubescent or soft 

 tomentose. Leaves ovate or ovate-oblong, long-acuminate, base rounded 

 or cordate, entire or irregularly dentate ; main lateral nerves 4-6, on 

 either side of midrib; blade 3-6, petiole 1 in. long. Flowers in ter- 

 minal corymbose trichotomous panicles. Calyx with 4 or 5 rounded, 

 nearly equal teeth. Corolla-lobes equal or bilabiate, upper lip retuse or 



