382 LXII. LAURINE.E. [Litscea. 



stamens ; no staminodes. (Sometimes 3 stamens in the inner circle, 2 of 

 which have single glands only.) No stamens in the female flower. 

 Berry supported by the persistent base of perianth. 



Leaves often whorled, 6-12 in. long, triplinerved . . 1. L. lanuginosa. 

 Leaves alternate, 4-6 in. long, penniveined . . . 2. L. zeylanica. 



1. L. lanuginosa, Nees ; DC. Prodr. xv. i. 221. Syn. Tetranthera 

 lanuginosa, Wall. Vern. Kalban, Pb. ; Kokra, N.W.P. 



A middle-sized, evergreen tree, with large leaf-buds, enclosed by imbri- 

 cate, soft-pubescent scales. Leaves often glabrous, coriaceous, lanceolate, 

 acuminate, 6-12 in. long, narrowed into petiole 1 in. long, midrib divided 

 some distance (J in.) above the base into 3 main nerves, the middle 

 nerve penniveined in the upper half of the leaf. Flowers on hairy pedi- 

 cels J in. long, in dense sessile lateral clusters. Perianth campanulate, 

 villous outside ; segments ovate, acute. Glands of interior anthers stipi- 

 tate. Berry oblong, acute at both ends, J in. long. 



Outer Himalaya, Kamaon, Nepal, Sikkim, ascending to 6000 ft., very spar- 

 ingly north to the Indus (J.L.S.) Fl. June. 



2. L. zeylanica, Nees ; Benth. Fl. Austr. v. 307 ; "Wight Ic. t. 132, t. 

 1844. Syn. L. consimilis, Nees; DC. Prodr. xv. i. 223; also L. foliosa, 

 Nees, and L. umbrosa, Nees. Vern. Chirndi, shalanglu, rauli, chilotu, 

 charkha, Pb. ; Kamval(a), titbora, sara, jhatela, chirara, chirchira, 

 N.W.P. 



A middle-sized evergreen tree, glabrous, only leaf-buds and pedicels 

 pubescent. Leaves alternate, thinly coriaceous, pale beneath, 4-6 in. 

 long, on petiole J in. long, lanceolate, penniveined, but the lowest pair 

 often more prominent than the others. Flowers yellowish-white, pedi- 

 cellate, in dense sessile lateral 6-12-flowered clusters. Perianth funnel- 

 shaped, segments oblong, obtuse, ciliate, pedicels and outside of perianth 

 pubescent, rarely glabrous. Glands of interior anthers sessile. Berry 

 subglobose, J- in. diam., on slender pedicels J in. long. I follow Bentham 

 in identifying the North Indian form with the tropical, L. zeylanica and 

 foliosa. The only difference that I can trace is, that L. consimilis has 

 always penniveined leaves, hairy pedicels, obtuse perianth-segments, and 

 subglobose berries on slender pedicels ; whereas in the tropical form the 

 leaves are generally triplinerved, the pedicels are sometimes glabrous, the 

 perianth - segments often acute, and the fruit is occasionally ovoid on 

 thick pedicels. Farther examination of the trees on the spot is needed 

 to decide whether there are two or several species, and how they should 

 be defined. Boxburgh's Laurus involucrata (top of the mountains, Coro- 

 mandel coast), Cor. PI. t. 187, is doubtless intended for this plant, but 

 the figure and the description have clusters of 4-5 flowers only. 



L. consimilis grows in the Himalaya, generally in shady forests between 2000 

 and 8000 ft. from the Chenab to Nepal, inland as far as Serahn and Poinda 

 in Bussahir (Sept. 1864, D.B.) Fl. March-May ; fr. Sept.-Oct. Attains 20-25 



I 



