ALSTONIA SCHOLARIS. (Nat. order Apocynese.) 



ALSTONIA. R. Br — GEN, CHAR. Calyx without any or with very minute glands. Corolla-tube cylindrical, more or less swollen round 

 the anthers, the lobes spreading, contorted in the bud, throat without scales. Anthers enclosed in the tube. No hypogynous scales. Ovary of 2 distinct 

 carpels united by the style, stigma ovoid or conical ; ovules numerous, in about 4 rows in each carpel, Fruit of 2 long linear follicles. Seeds oblong, com- 

 pressed, peltately attached, bordered with hairs of which those at each end are usually very long ; albumen scanty. Trees or tall shrubs with a milky 

 juice. Leaves in whorls of 3 or more, or in a few species opposite. Flowers in terminal corymbose cymes, usually 1 in the axil of each leaf of the terminal 

 whorl, Bracts small. — Blaberopus, A. DO. 



ALSTONIA SCHOLARIS. (R. Br.) A tree attaining 80 to 90 feet, usually glabrous except the minutely pubescent 

 inflorescence. Leaves in whorls of 5 to 7, broadly petiolate, obovate oblong, very obtuse, shortly contracted at the base, coriaceous, 

 with transverse parallel veins, smooth and shining above, opaque and pale or whitish underneath, 4 to 6 inches long. Peduncles in the 

 axils of the terminal whorls shorter than the leaves, each bearing 1 or 2 whorls of secondary peduncles, and each of these a dense 

 cyme of nearly sessile flowers. Calyx segments ovate, pubescent, rather above 1 line long. Corolla tube 3 to 4 lines long, lobes 

 pubescent outside, much shorter than the tube, the left hand edges overlapping in the bud, the throat closed by a dense ring of hairs. 

 Ovary hirsute at the top. Follicles 1 foot long or even more. Seeds about 3 lines long, the hairs at each end longer than the seed 

 itself. Benth. Fl. Aust. iv. p. 312 ;— DC. Prod. viii. 408 ;— Wight. Ic. tab. 422. 



This tree is very common in the plains on the western side of this Presidency and in Mysore up to an elevation of about 3000 feet, and 

 in Ceylon, and it is also found in Africa and Australia ; it is very generally known by the native name Paid (which signifies milk), bat several other 

 trees are also known by the same name, and another Tamil name for it is Wodrase. In Ceylon it is called Bookattoma, and the wood is there 

 generally employed for making coffins ; on the Bombay ghats it is called Salween ; the bark possesses poioerf id tonic properties, and is a common 

 native medicine in bowel complaints. The wood, which is very bitter, is white and light and is used for making packing cases, sheaths and turnery 



Analysis. 



(The plate represents a branch in bud only.) 



1 . A full flower. 



2. Corol removed and opened to show insertion of the anthers. 



3. Anthers, front and back view. 



4. Calyx, ovary, style and stigma. 



5. Vertical section of one of the carpels. 



6. A seed. 



7. Embryo. 



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