MR HIERN, ON EBENACE^. 165 



Canarica. S. Canara, Major Beddome ! "yields an ebony," native name Kara mara. 



A. specimen from Malacca (Maingay ! 969), with less dense cymes and 14 stamens with 

 somewhat pilose anthers, may belong to this species. 



I cannot discover any authentic and satisfactory specimen of D. hirsuta, Linn. fil. ; 

 there is not a specimen so named by the younger Linnaeus in the elder Linnaeus' herbarium, 

 and one in Sir J. E. Smith's herbarium sent from Ceylon by Burmann and labelled " Diospyros 

 hirsuta, H. L. fil." is not a Diospyros nor even a member of the family. 



12. DIOSPYEOS MESPILIFORMIS, Hochst. in PL Schimp. Abyss. Exsicc. sect. ii. 



nn. 655, 1243 (1842). 



D. foliis ellipticis vel oblongis, alternis, tenuiter coriaceis, glabrescentibus ml leviter pu- 

 bescentibus, breviter petiolatis, nervis inconspicuis ; floribus masculis axillaribus, 5 4-raem, 

 ferrugineo-tomentosis, breviter cymosis, urceolato-oblongis, staminibus 10 16, subglabris ; flori- 

 bus femineis 1 3-nis, axillaribus, 5 4- rarius 3-meris, staminodiis 6 8, uniserialibus, glabris, 

 ovario ovoideo vel conico, sericeo, 4- vel 8-loculari, loculis 1-ovulatis; fructibus subglobosis, 

 glabratis, edulibus, calyce fructifero margine undulato ; albumine ruminato. 



Alph. DC. Prodr. vin. p. 672 (1844). 



D. senegalensis, Perrott. ex Alph. DC. 1. c. p. 234. n. 59. 



D. bicolor, Klotzsch in Peters Mossamb. I. p. 184 (1862). 



A shrub or tree from 6 to 40 feet high or more. Wood much thought of by the 

 natives, white, compact, and useful for many purposes, or black in the centre like ebony. 

 Branches terete, brown-cinereous, glabrescent, more or less patent ; the young shoots and 

 inflorescence ferruginous-tomentose. Leaves alternate, oblong or elliptical, somewhat narrowed 

 or rounded at either end, thinly coriaceous (the younger ones very softly membranous) 

 glabrescent and shining, or with scattered appressed pubescence beneath, often rubescent, 

 especially on the midrib beneath, 2 6 in. long by | 2J in. wide ; petiole | J in. long ; 

 midrib depressed above, lateral and net-veins delicate; margins just recurved. Flowers 

 white, dioecious. 



cJ . Inflorescence axillary, cymose, bearing few to many flowers, in. long exclusive 

 of the flowers. Flowers ferruginous-tomentose, about in. long, pentamerous, occasionally 

 tetramerous ; bracteoles lanceolate. Calyx about in. long, 5- occasionally 4-fid, campanu- 

 late or campanulate-oblong, hairy on both sides; lobes ovate or lanceolate. Corolla in 

 general shortly 5-fid, urceolate-oblong, twice the length of the calyx or more, sericeous out- 

 side, glabrous inside; lobes spreading, pointed. Stamens 10 16, often in pairs, nearly 

 glabrous but with a narrow band of light-coloured hairs on the back of the anthers, in- 

 serted at the base of the corolla ; filaments short ; connective produced at apex ; pollen 

 widely ellipsoidal, smooth! Ovary rudimentary, hairy, or 0. 



9 . Flowers pentamerous or tetramerous or rarely trimerous, solitary or in very short 

 1 3-flowered axillary cymes ; peduncles | f in. long ; bracts narrow, caducous. Calyx hairy 

 on both sides, campanulate, deeply lobed; lobes ovate acuminate with undulated margins. 



