BARRINGTONIA ACUTANGULA. (Nat. order Myrtaoew.) 



BARRINGTONIA. Forst.— GEN. CHAR. Calyx tube ovoid or turbinate, not at all or scarcely produced above the ovary, the limb either 

 closed in the bud and splitting into 2 to 4 valvate segments or rarely with 3 or 4 lobes, imbricate in the bud. Petals 4 or 5, adhering at the base to the 

 Btaminal cup. Stamens numerous, in several series, shortly united at the base into a ring or cup ; anthers small, with parallel cells opening longitudinally. 

 Ovary inferior with an annular disk on the top within the stamens, 2 to 4 celled, with 2 to 8 ovules in each cell, horizontal or pendulous, in 2 rows ■ style 

 filiform with a small stigma. Fruit pyramidal ovoid or oblong, hard and fibrous, indehiscent. Seed usually solitary, with a thick testa ; exalbuminoua 

 embryo undivided, consisting of a thick woody stratum, and a more or less distinct pith in the centre, no cotyledons. Trees. Leaves alternate, usually 



crowded at the ends of the branches, penniveined and not dotted, Flowers in terminal or lateral spikes or racemes. Bracts small and deciduous. Benth. 



Fl. Aust. iii. p. 287. Stravadium, Juss. Butonica, Mig. Fl. Ind. Bat. 1. pars. 1. 485. Botryoropis, Presl. Epimel- Bot. 220. Meteorus, Lout. 



JjAKRINGTONIA ACUTANGULA. (Gsertn.) A large handsome tree. Leaves from obovate or oblong-cuneate to 

 almost elliptical, obtuse or shortly acuminate, rarely much above 4 inches long, serrulate or entire, narrowed into a short petiole, 

 Flowers red, rather small in very long slender pendulous racemes. Bracts oblong, very deciduous. Pedicels 2 to 4 lines lone, calyx 

 tube ovoid gl.bose, about 1 line long ; lobes 4, rather longer than the tube, orbicular. Petals about twice as long as the calyx-tube. 

 Stamens not much longer than the petals. Ovary 4 celled or spuriously 4 celled, with 2 pendulous ovules in each cell. Fruit 



oblong, 4 angled, 1 inch long or rather more. Wight and Am. Prod. 333. Stravadium rubrum, BO. Prod. iii. 289/ Benth. Fl. Aust. 



iii. p. 288. Botryoropis, Presl. Epimel. Bot, 220. Tsjeria samstravadi, Rheede Mai. 4 t. 7. 



This beautiful tree is common throughout this' Presidency, as well as in most parts of hidia, Birmah and Ceylon, on the banks of 

 rivers, and it in also found in the Archipelago and in Australia ; it is colled Kurpcb in Teligu, Piwar in Bombay, and Kyaitha in Birmah ; the 

 wood is of a beautiful red color, tough and, strong and stands a good polish, a cubic foot unseasoned weighs 65-70 lbs. and 56 lbs. when seasoned, 

 and its specific gravity is '896, it is greutly in request by cabinet makers, and the native workmen in Madras call it Munneelahancha from its 

 susceptibility of turning black when buried in mud. The bark, the juice of the leaves, and the kernels of the fruit, are in use medicinally with 

 the natives ; the tree flowers at the end of the hot season or at the beginning of the rains, and is a beautiful object on the banks of some of our 

 western coast backwaters. 



Analysis. 



1. A flower bud showing the bracteole at the base — la. Petals removed from the bud, showing the much bent filaments all fertile. 



2. A full flower. 



3. The 4 petals removed, showing that they are slightly joined at the base. 



4. Petals and stamen tube'removed and opened out, the former are adnate to the back of the tube aud the stamens are in 3 rows, ths 



filaments are often broken and appear like staminodes, but all bear fertile anthers in the bud. 



5. A portion of the stamina! tube more highly magnified. 



6. An anther, showing that it is basifixed. 



7. A flower, petals and stamens removed, showing the ring-like disk at the apex of the ovary. 



8. Ovary cut vertically, showing the pendulous ovules. 



9. Ovary cut transversely, showing 4 cells with 2 ovules in each cell. 



10. Magnified portion of a young leaf underside showing the venation, the small serratures, and elight pubescence. The dissections all 

 taken from fresh flowers. (This species is generally described as having a 2 celled ovary ; in all the ovaries that I have examined 

 there were 4 cells.) F. a. is a drawing showing a germinating seed of Barringtonia racemosa after Dr. Roxburgh's drawing. 



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