Homonoya.] LXIX. EUPHORBIACE^E. 445 



1-celled, adnate to a many-branched central column. Ovary mostly 3- 

 celled, 1 ovule in each cell. Capsule small, 3- seeded. 



1. H. riparia, Lour. Syn. Adelia neriifolia, Roth ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 

 849; "Wight Ic. t. 1868. Vern. Taniki, Tel. Yay-tagyiben, Burm. 



A small shrub, somewhat resembling a willow, branches hairy. Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, 4-8 in. long, penniveined, under side with circular scales 

 and scattered hairs. Flowers dioicous, in axillary bracteate spikes about 

 half the length of leaves. Anthers and stigmas red. Capsule tomentose, 

 3-celled, 3-valved, 3-seeded. 



Common in rocky river-beds of South and Central India. Attains 6-8 ft., 

 and flowers Nov.-March. 



H. retusa, Mull. Arg. Syn. Adelia retusa, Wight Ic. t. 1869 has sessile obo- 

 vate or oblanceolate dentate leaves, female flowers in short spikes, male flowers in 

 axillary fascicles. Kiver-beds in the Dekkan. 



Ricinus communis, Linn. Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 689 Sans. Eranda ; Vern. 

 Rand, arand, rendi, erendi, ind, Hind. : Local n. Aneru, Chenab ; Hamauli, 

 Salt range ; Tirlci, the small kind in Guzerat ; Haralu, Canar., the well-known 

 Castor Oil or Palma Christi plant, a soft-wooded tree, of short duration, which 

 is often cultivated as an annual, e. g., in Guzerat and Bengal, for its oil, is nearly 

 allied to Homonoya, but differs, apart from the peltate palmately lobed leaves, 

 by monoicous flowers, and a fleshy appendage on the seed near the funicle. The 

 large prickly capsules consist of 3 subcylindrical lobes rounded at the ends, with 

 3 spotted seeds. Cultivated in the Mediterranean region, the United States, the 

 West Indies, India, China, and the Indian Archipelago. Naturalised in the sub- 

 Himalayan tract of the Panjab, indigenous in Arabia and North Africa. As a 

 small tree, it is cultivated near villages in Bengal to feed the Arindi silk-worm 

 (Roxb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. vii. 42). Regarding the cultivated varieties of the 

 Castor Oil plant in India, see Hamilton in Trans. Linn. Soc. xiv. 248. 



Para Rubber, the finest and most durable caoutchouc as yet known, is 

 the produce of several species of Hevea, a South American genus, particu- 

 larly of H. braziliensis, Mull. Arg. Syn. Siplionia brasiliensis, Willd. ; 

 Hayne Arzneigewachse, xiv. t. 5 ; Collins' Report on Caoutchouc, 1872, 1 

 a large evergreen tree, indigenous in the province of Para, and on the 

 Orinoco river, with alternate, glabrous, ternate, long - p etiolate leaves, 

 leaflets entire, acuminate. Flowers monoicous, in large white-tomentose 

 lateral panicles. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, petals none. Anthers adnate 

 to a central column. Fruit a large 3-lobed, 3-valved capsule, having the 

 appearance of 3 slightly connate cylinders, rounded at the ends, thick, 

 woody-fibrous. Seeds 3 large, smooth, shining, spotted, with a thick 

 brittle testa. 



7. BISCHOFFIA, Blume. 



Leaves trifoliate, stipules early caducous. Flowers dioicous or monoic- 

 ous, in axillary panicles. Calyx of 5 valvate segments, those of the male 

 flowers concave, enclosing the stamens at first, afterwards reflexed, those 

 of the female flowers lanceolate. Petals none. Stamens 5, opposite the 

 segments, and inserted round a raised circular central body (rudimentary 

 ovary), filaments very short. Ovary 3-celled, 2 ovules in each cell, styles 



