290 



THE SPECIES OF MYEISTICA 



Ceylon 



at low elevations in moist forests, and oft 



near the banks of rivers. 





Thwaites C. P. N 



2923 



This has been reduced by Sir Joseph Hooker (F. B. I. v. 103) to a variety of 



M 



fol 



Hook 



fil 



Thorns. But a careful examination of fresh specim 



my 



friend 



D 



H 



Trimen. f.r.s.. Director of th 



kindly collected for me by 



Botanical Garden at Peradeniya, makes me believe that it is really a distinct species 



Its leaves are perfectly 

 M. laurifolia the leaves 



o 



labr 



d its fruit has a leathery pericarp; whereas in 



are 



tely lepidote-pubescent underneath 



when quite 



dult, and the pericarp is very 



culent 



D 



Trimen infor 



me that this is rather 



a 



local 



pecies 



j 



occurring 



" both in the low country and in what I call the intermediate 



region 



> 



i.e., i 



ntermed 



between our moist and dry districts; whe 



M. laurifi 



H. f. & Th., which it most 



resembles, is a moist country tr 



i) 



1 



111 



m 



, Myristica Ceyl 

 ale flowers: 3, fruit dehiscing 



A. DC, 



d 



g 



1,T 



the i 



g with female flowers 



2 



i 



eed 



d by its arillus 



uster of 



latural 



n 



MZC 



} 



4 



; 



ale flower : 5, andrcecium — enlarged, 





7 



M 



Hook. fil. 6c Th. Fl. Ind. 163. A tree; all parts glabrous 



pt very young leaf-buds and the inflorescence at all stages; young branches dark 



d. Leaves coriaceous, elliptic to oblong-ellipt 



obtuse or sub-acute, the b 



truncate, rounded or slightly cuneate; uppe 



surfa 



shin 



dry) 



main nerves, 12 to 14 p 



• 



depressed on the upp 



lower, surface, interarching freely, the secondary nerves 



ig, lower dull, darker (when 

 jr, rather prominent on the 

 almost as prominent but much 



horter: length -6 to *9 in., breadth 2 



to 



4 in., petiole *75 to 



1 in. 



Male fl< 



R 



tly pedunculate a^ 

 when old ; ped 



illary cymes, shorter than the petioles wl 



young, 



but ofte 



as 



shorter than the perianth, tl 



bracteole orbicular-ovoid 



long 



embracing the lower part of the perianth at one side only; perianth nearly *2 in. long, 



ovoiu-tubular, sub-inflated, cut for a fourth of its length or less into 3 acute teeth, rufous- 



pubescent outside like the bracteole, glabrescent with 



and, 



thick 



lindr 



ulate, shorter than the perianth, its stalk thick, from half as long to as long as the 



column ; anthers 

 short abrupt api 



about 14, lin 



> 



Fru it 



tly pedunculate 



itary 



r 



ufou 



pulverulent, 1*5 to 2 in. long and 1*2 



ovoid, with a 



to 1 



m. m 



di 



pericarp 



htly 



t 



seed 



\y ovoid, covered to the apex by the 



deeply laciniate, fleshy, yellow arillus. M. laurifolia & M. diospyrifolia, A. HO. Prod. 



1, 191; M. laurifolia, Hook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. v. 103 



part) 



Cej 



moist forests from 1,000 



4,000 feet. Thwaites C. P. No. 416, Trime 



Dr. Trimen informs me that tins is the most abundant species of Myristica in 

 Ceylon, but that it occurs only in the moister parts of the island; whereas M. Ceylanica 

 is found in parts intermediate, as regards moisture, between these and the dry northern 

 districts. Its vernacular name is, Dr. Trimen says, "Malaboda," and its timber is largely 



He 



d in making tea chests 

 parable from M. laurifolia ; and 



of opinion that M. DeCandolle's M. diospyrifolia 



not 



a matter of fact it appears from DeC's description 

 of' the latter (Prod. I c. ) that he had seen no specimen of it, and that he merely 



quotes its descript 



from H. 



Th. (FL Ind. 163) 



D 



Trimen believes that 



probably the oldest name for the species is M. dantyloides of Gsertner, whose fi 



© 



(Fruct et Sem. i. t 41, fig. 2) ag 

 species under the name. 



very 



well 



But Gartner probably included other 



