Eriocauion^ Eriocanlonece '. 3 



recept. hemispheric, sparsely hairy, bracteoles cuneiform, tips 

 rounded, cuspidate, dorsally villous with white hairs above the 

 middle, male and fern. fl. shortly stipitate; male sep. 3, obovate- 

 oblong, concave, dorsally villous above the middle with white 

 hairs; fern. sep. cymbiform, cor. with ov. very shortly 

 stipitate, pet. narrowly spathulate, ciliate towards the tip; 

 ov. subsessile; seeds -^ in. long, oblong, smooth, dark brown. 



Deep water, in the moist low country below 2000 ft. ; Pelaiwatte, 

 Hewesse, Pasdun Korale. Fl. Dec-March. 



Also in the Concan, Bengal, Burma, and Cochin China. 



In the Peradenya Herbarium this occurs mixed with E. setaceum, of 

 which it was probably considered (possibly correctly) a form, by Thwaites 

 and Trimen. The colour of the heads, due to the copious white hairs of 

 the fl. bracts, distinguishes it at a glance. The receptacle is less hairy 

 than in the Continental specimens, and the seeds are smaller. 



3. E. caulescens, Hk.f. and Th. in Fl. B. Ind. vi. 572 (1893). E. 

 atratum, var. major, Thw. Enum. 341. C. P. 131. 



Stem in young plants simple, 3-4 in. long, as thick as the 

 thumb, in old, often copiously branched, with branches 6-10 

 in. long, and leafy throughout, rooting along the elongate 

 base ; roots stout, flexuous ; 1. 2-6 by |— \ in., narrowed from 

 the base to the obtuse tip, rigidly coriaceous, quite opaque, 

 veins very many, close-set, faint ; scape subsolitary from the 

 stem or branches, 6-18 in., stout or slender, sheath 1-6 in., tip 

 obtuse or acute, coriaceous or membranous towards the side; 

 heads |-| in. diam., bracts sub 3-seriate, coriaceous, oblong, 

 outer obtuse, inner acute, almost black, shining; recept. flat, 

 covered with very long straight hairs, bracteoles oblanceolate, 

 acute, dark, dorsally shortly bearded; sep. and pet. of both 

 sexes villously bearded, male fl. with 1 pet. much exceeding 

 the bracteoles, obovate, villous all over; fem. fl. with 2 sep. 

 concave, 1 flat, cor. stipitate, pet. very unequal, spots large, 

 stipes of cor. and of ov. villous ; seeds not seen. 



Upper montane zone, alt. 5000-8000 ft. ; very rare. Adam's Peak, 

 plentiful; Horton Plains, swamp on Pidurutalagala, 8000 ft. (Pearson). 

 Fl. Feb. 



Endemic. 



Our largest and most handsome species, semi-shrubby when old. 



4. E. zeylanicum, Korn. in Linnaea, xxvii. (1854), 667 (ceylanicum). 

 E. snbcaulesce?is, Hk. f. in Fl. B. Ind. vi. 573 (1893). E. atratum, 



Thw. Enum. 341 (part). C. P. 61 (part). 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 585 {ceylanicum). 



Stem 3-4 in., as thick as the little finger or less, simple, 

 densely leafy ; 1. 2-3 by \ in., erect, linear, acute or mucronate, 

 thick, opaque, many-veined, sheath slightly woolly at the base 

 within ; scapes 1-3, 6-12 in., slender, strongly 7-ribbed, sheath 



