340 LIII. LYTHRACE.E [Lagerstrcemia 



Ic. t. 1996. Sea coast and tidal backwaters on the West Coast, from Malabar south- 

 wards, also in Tinnevelli. Coast of Tenasserim and the Andarnans. — Ceylon. Tropical 

 coasts of East Africa to Australia and Polynesia. A grey silky-hairy shrub or small 

 tree, 1. thick, fleshy, numerous, i-lj in. long, readily disarticulating, fl. pink, solitary, 

 axillary, hexarnerous, calyx campaifulate, 12-rihbed, segments short, with minute teeth 

 between, stamens 12, ovary free, imperfectly 3-celled. Capsule enclosed for % of its 

 length in the persistent calyx-tube, opening by the top coming off like a cap, seeds 

 numerous. 



2. DUABANGA, Ham. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. 578. 

 Species 2, one in the Indian Archipelago. 



D. sonneratioides, Ham. ; Kurz F. Fl. i. 525. Yern. Lampatia, Nep. ; 

 Myaukngo, Lower, Matt, Upper Burma. 



A tall handsome tree, wood greyish-brown, branchlets drooping with the 

 weight of the flowers. L. opposite, distichous, from a cordate base oblong, 

 tapering to the end, blade 7-15, petiole stout, \-\ in., sec, tertiary and intra- 

 marginal nerves prominent. Fl. 2-3 in. across, in terminal corymbs, buds large 

 globose. Calyx cup-shaped, segments 6-8, usually 7, thick triangular. Petals 

 white, crumpled, falling off early with the stamens. Stamens x, in a single 

 row, filaments as well as style inflexed in bud. Ovary adnate to the calyx at 

 its base, 4-8-celled, ovules ac, stigma 4-8-lobed. Capsule coriaceous, opening 

 loculicidally into 4-8 valves, supported by the thick spreading calyx. Seeds 

 go , minute, testa produced at both ends into long pointed tails. 



Subhimalayan tract from Nepal eastwards, ascending to 3,000 ft. Assam, Khasi 

 hills, Manipur, Chittagong. Andarnans and Nicobars. Burma, common near streams. 

 Fl. Jan.-April. — Perak. Tonkin. Yunnan. 



Lawsonia alba, Lam. ; Wight 111. t. 87 ; Bedd. Manual t. 14 fig. 6. The Henna Plant. 

 Yern. Mendi, Mehudi,iliud. ; Manidi, Sind ; Goranti, Kan. ; Q-oririta, Tel. ; Dan, Burm. 

 Indigenous in Arabia and Persia, probably also indigenous in the drier parts of the 

 Peninsula and Ceylon (sand dunes near Tuticorin. D. B. Feb. 1882). Cultivated and 

 naturalized throughout India. A glabrous shrub, branchlets often spinescent, 1. 

 opposite 1-14 in. long. Fl. greenish-yellow, very fragrant, tetramerous, J in. across, 

 on short slender pedicels, in large terminal panicled cymes. Stamens usually 8, in 

 pairs between the petals. Ovary free, 2^-eelled. Capsule globose, base supported by 

 the persistent calyx, pericarp brittle, bursting irregularly. Seeds numerous, angular, 

 truncate, testa thick, cotyledons flat, orbicular. Leaves powdered and made into a paste, 

 used to stain finger-nails, teeth and beard. 



3. SONNERATIA, Linn. f. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. 579. 



Litoral evergreen trees, entirely glabrous. L. opposite, entire. Calyx 

 thickly coriaceous, usually 4- or 6- (rarely 7- or 8-) lobed. Petals none or as 

 many as calyx-segments. Stamens x, inserted at the mouth of calyx-tube, 

 inflexed in bud. Ovary nearly free, many-celled, placentas thick, axile, ovules cc. 

 Fr. fleshy, indehiscent, supported by the persistent calyx, base adnate to calyx. 

 Seeds numerous, angular. Species 4-6, tropics of the old world. 



A. Petals as many as calyx-segments. 



1. S. acida, Linn. f. ; Wight Ic. t, 340 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. Manual t, 15, fig. 1, 

 Yern. Ora, Orcha, Sundr. ; Tiicar, Mar. ; JBlatti, Thirala, Mai. ; Tabu, Tamil. 

 Burm. 



A small tree, attaining 30 ft, 1. obovate, gradually tapering into a broad 

 short petiole, 2—4 in. long. Fl. 2 in. across, solitary at the ends of branchlets, 

 calyx-tube shallow, not ribbed, segments 6-8, usually 6, acute, longer than 

 tube, petals dark purple, linear, acuminate, li in. long. Fr. depressed-globular, 

 2-2Jj in. diam., edible. 



Sundriban. Coast from Chittagong to Tenasserim, ascending the rivers as far as 

 the tides. Delta of the Indus. - Coast and tidal waters of the Peninsula. Fl. E. S. 



