Sqprosma.] RubiacecZ. 369 



Montane zone ; very rare. Only collected in forests near Galagama 

 below Horton Plains, where it was first found by Gardner. Fl. April, 

 May; white. 



Also in S. India. 



The Ceylon plant has broader and more cordate-based leaves than 

 the Indian one, and is called var. Gardneri in Fl. B. Ind. 



2. S. scabridum, Bedd. Fl. Sylv. For. Man. 134, 12 (1873 ?). 

 Serissa scabrida, Thw. Enum. 151. C. P. 3306. 



Fl. B. Ind. iii. 193. 



Branchlets rough, with short stiff hair ; 1. 2-3 in., oval, 

 acute at base, slightly acuminate, acute, glabrous above, 

 pilose on veins beneath, petiole \ in., stip. scabrous, with long 

 bristles ; fl. solitary, terminal ; cal.-segm. lanceolate-linear ; 

 berry (unripe) about \ in., globose. 



Moist low country; very rare. An imperfect specimen in Hb. Perad., 

 with a single nearly ripe fruit and no flowers, marked ' Near Ratnapura, 

 March, 1853,' is all the material for this species. 



Endemic. 



3. S. zeylanicum, Bedd. Fl. Sylv. For. Man. 136, 12 (1873 ?)• 

 Dysodidendron* zeylanicum, Gardn. in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. vii. 2. 



Serissa zeylanica, Thw. Enum. 150. C. P. 261. 



Fl. B. Ind. iii. 193. Bedd. Ic. PI. Ind. Or. t. 15 (Serissa Wightii). 



A shrub, 8-12 ft., with slender erect branches, branchlets 

 very slender, brittle, much flattened and dilated below the 

 nodes, bark pale brownish-yellow, smooth, twigs glabrous ; 

 1. usually 2-4 in., lanceolate or oval, acute at base, acuminate, 

 acute, often very shallowly and irregularly crenate near the 

 end, glabrous, shining above, paler beneath, lat. veins much 

 curved, prominent beneath, with deep glandular pits in axils, 

 petiole very short, stip. with short bristles ; fl. rather large, 

 axillary (often from axils of fallen 1.) or terminal, ped. \-\ in., 

 slender, glabrous, with 2 small linear bracts below the middle, 

 and often also beneath the fl. ; cal. glabrous, segm. broad, 

 shallow, apiculate; cor.-tube funnel-shaped, lobes much longer 

 than tube, broadly ovate, acute, spreading, hairy above, thick, 

 the broad margin thinner, turned upwards and crisped (in 

 aestivation strongly induplicate, the bud being bluntly 

 quadrangular); fil. very short; stigmas linear, spreading; 

 berry over \ in., obovate-ovoid, tipped with small cal.-segm., 

 smooth and shining, bright blue. 



Montane zone in forests 4000-7000 ft. ; common. Fl. March, April, 

 and August ; pale sulphur-yellow. 

 Also in S. Indian hills. 

 The leaves and flowers are extremely fetid, especially when bruised or 



* From the very fetid odour of the plant. 

 PART II. V> B 



