GORDON I A OBTUSA (Nat. order Ternstrsemiacere.) 



GrORDONTA, Linn. Btnth. and Hook. Gen. PI. 1 p. 1S6. — GEN\ CHAR. Sepals about 5, much imbricated very unequal passing from the bract 

 (-9 the petals, petals about as many, the innermost, the largest, all usually cohering at the base, stamens numerous, anthers 6hort, versatile, ovary 3-5 celled 

 (rarely 6,) with several (4-S) pendulous ovules in each cell, capsule woody oblong opening loculicidally, the valves bearing the dissepiments, but usually 

 leaving a free central axis ; seeds flattish oblique, expanded at the top into an oblong wing, albumen embryo nearly straight with flat cotyledons. Trees, 

 leaves coriaceous, peduncles 1 flowered erect or recurved, flowers showy. 



vtQRDONIA. OBTUSA.. (Wall.) A middling sized tr.ee, glabrous, leaves cuneate-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate or narrow 

 lanceolate, obtuse or with a blunt acuminatioa with shallow serratures glabrous 2|-5 inches long, by 1-1£ broad, petioles 

 about 2 lines long, peduncles a little shorter than the petioles, petals obcordate, slightly united at the base, silky on the outside as are 

 the bracts and calyx, stamens somewhat pentadelphous. Wall. L. n. 1459 ;—WA. Prod. p. 87. Gordonia parviflora, Wight. Ill, 



This very beautiful tree is very common on the Mlgiris, the Wynad, and throughout the western ghats of the Madras Presidency, from 

 2,500 feet to 7,500. On the Mlgiris it is called Nagetta ; its timber is white, with a straw tint, even grained and pleasant to work, and not unlike 

 Beech ; it is very generally in use for planks, doors, rafters, and beams, but warps if not well seasoned. 







■x 





0. 



83 



