148 



XXXI. OLACACEiE 



[Olax 



Fl. C. S. Ceylon, China. 2. 0. Wightiana, "Wall. Erect or climbing, evergreen 

 forests on the west side of the Peninsula, from North Kanara southwards. L. glabrous, 



shining, 3-4 in., base often 

 rounded. Fl. cream-coloured 

 in axillary often compound 

 corymbs, pedicels spreading, 

 longer than half the flower, 

 drupe nearly covered by the 

 calyx. Closely allied is 3. 0. 

 imbricata, Roxb. Chittagong, 

 Tenasserim, Andamans, Indian 

 Archipelago ; an unarmed 

 climber, branchlets terete. L. 

 3-6 in., racemes distichous, 

 the rather large bracts imbri- 

 cating in bud. 0. merguensis, 

 Planchon, Tenasserim, Malaya, 

 is not specifically different. 

 4. 0. acuminata, "Wall., Assam, 

 Bhutan, Khasi hills, Silhet, 

 Dacca, branchlets angled. L. 

 .lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 racemes few fid., shorter than 

 or as long as petioles, drupe 

 red, fleshy. 5. 0. nana, "Wall., 

 is a small undershrub in grass 

 lands of the Subhimalayan 

 tract and Bengal, with a large 

 woody rootstock, which sends 

 rip shoots annually after the 

 iuno-le fires, with subsessile 



Fig. 68. — Olax scandens, Koxb. i. 



JUIlglC u«. 



lanceolate leaves and solitary axillary flowers on slender peduncles. 



Ximania americana, Linn. (Pinle Kayin, Hide Zi, Burma).]2A -glabrous straggling 

 shrub armed with short straight spines, on the coast of Tenasserim and the Andamans. 

 Inland on dry stony ground in the Deccan ; littoral in the tropics of both hemispheres. 

 L. blunt, entire, 1J-2 in. long, turning black in drying. Fl. whitish, generally bisexual, 

 J in. long, calyx cup-shaped, 4-5-toothed, petals revolute, on the upper surface 

 densely bearded, stamens 8-10. Drupe ovoid. 1 in. long, orange red when ripe, pulp 

 edible, stone hard, 1-seeded. 



Erythropalum scandens, Blume, Sikkiin, Khasi hills, Manipur, Chittagong, Burma, 

 Cochinchina, Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, is a powerful woody climber, with 

 axillary tendrils. L. membranous, ovate, with three basal nerves, blade 4-6, petiole 

 |-2 in. Fl. minute, pentamerous, bisexual, in slender, long peduncled, dichotomous 

 cymes, calyx tube adnate to ovary and much enlarged in fruit. Petals short, broad, 

 slightly coherent at base, inserted outside the large cupular, fleshy, 5-lobed disk, stamens 

 5, opposite to petals. Ft. oblong, f-1 in., yellowish, crowned by the scars of the calyx 

 lobes, embryo minute, near the apex of the large fleshy albumen. Two other species 

 closely allied and probably not distinct: 2. E. populifolium, Masters: Western C4hats 

 from North Kanara southwards. L. subcoriaceous, triangular-cordate. 3. E. vagum, 

 Masters ; Sikkim, Assam, Khasi hills, Cachar. L. subcoriaceous, ovate-oblong, blade 

 4-9 in., basal nerves 3-5. 



2. STROMBOSIA, Bl. ; Fl. Brit, Ind. i. 579. 



Evergreen trees. Fl. bisexual, pentamerous, in short axillary cymose 

 fascicles. Calyx cup-shaped, free or adnate to base of ovary, petals _ free, 

 hairy within, stamens 5, opposite to petals. Drupe crowned by the remains of 

 calyx, embryo minute, in a fleshy albumen. Species 6, Indo-Malayan region. 



1. S. ceylanica, Gardner ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 137. 



Trunk erect, branches drooping, wood soft, shining, pale yellowish-brown. 

 L. coriaceous, glabrous, shining, elliptic-oblong, blade 4-6, petiole \ in. Fl. 

 pale greenish-white. Fr. f-1 in. 



Evergreen forests of the Western Ghats from the Konkan southwards. Fl. C. S, 



