222 LythracecB. 



separate' from it (including many fairly distinct species) are placed under 

 the name. On the whole, it seems safer not to employ it for any 

 Ceylon species. M. Royenii, Bl. Mus. Bot. i. 360, from Ceylon, probably 

 comes here. 



Wood hard, strong, and rather heavy. The fruit is eaten when cooked. 



The rays of the disk are sometimes quite inconspicuous in this species. 



27. T/t. capitellatum, L. Sp. PL 349 (1753). W61i-kaha, 

 Dodan-kaha, S. Kattikaya, Venkalikaya, Pavaddai- 



kaya, T. [Plate XLI.) 



Herm. Mus. 4. Burm. Thes. 76 Fl. Zeyl. n. 136. Moon Cat. 32. 

 Thw. Enum. no. Cogn. 1. c. 1142. C. P. 1564. 



Fl. B. Ind. ii. 564 {M. edide, vars. 3 and 5). Burm. Thes. t. 30. Bedd. 

 Fl. Sylv. t. 206, fig. A. 



A shrub with brown bark, twigs cylindrical ; 1. very shortly 

 stalked, oblong or slightly rhomboid-oval, acute at base, ob- 

 tuse at apex, sometimes slightly acuminate, thick, shining on 

 both sides, bright light green, paler beneath, lat. veins incon- 

 spicuous, the intramarginal one joining the midrib at base 

 and making it distinctly 3-nerved (very obvious when dry) ; 

 fl. rather large, quite sessile, few together in small heads at 

 ends of stiff peduncles |-ij in. long, from axils of present 

 and fallen 1. ; cal. shallow, segm. conspicuous, fleshy, erect, 

 bluntly pointed, disk-rays strongly winged ; fruit § in. or a 

 little more, crowned with large cal.-segm., black purple when 

 quite ripe. 



Low country up to 1000 ft. in both moist and dry regions; common, 

 especially in the northern forests. Fl. May, June ; violet-blue. 



Endemic. (?) 



This is the original type of the genus, the only species described by 

 Linnaeus. M. tinctorium, Keen, in Willd. Sp. PI. ii. 347, is referred, as a 

 variety, to this by Blume, who has seen Kcenig's specimen which was 

 collected at Galle. Clarke quotes for this Samara Iceta, Moon, which 

 belongs to M. umbellatum (No. 15). 



One of our best-marked species, abundantly distinct from M. edule, 

 Roxb. (as a variety of which it is considered in Fl. B. Ind.), and easily 

 recognised by the foliage alone. Wood hard, strong. The leaves turn 

 orange-yellow when dried ; they afford a yellow dye. 



LIV.— LYTHRACE^:. 



TREES, shrubs, or herbs, 1. opp., entire, no stip., fl. regular, 

 bisexual, variously arranged ; cal. persistent, free or slightly 

 adnate to base of ov. (in Axinandra completely adnate), 

 segm. 3-6; pet. 3-6 or o; stam. double the number (rarely 

 equal to number) of pet., or indef., inserted on cal.-tube ; ov. 



