CHCETOCARPUS CASTANOCARPUS. (Nat. order Euphorbiace®.) 



CHCETOCARPUS. Tkw.— GEN. CHAR. DiteciouB. Calyx in both sexes 4-parted imbricate in aestivation, petals 0, disk irregularly lobed. 

 Male, stamens 8-16 joined below into a central pilose column round the rudimentary ovary, filaments free above, the exterior alternate with the sepals 

 and lobes of the disk, anthers introrse sub-basifixed, 2-celled dehiscing longitudinally, rudiment of ovary entire or 2-3 fid. Female, ovary surrounded by the 

 lobed disk 3-celled, cells 1-ovuled, ovules pendulous, styles 3 bifid to nearly the base fimbriate, fruit a capsule echinate or warty dehiscing loculicidally 

 with hard valves, seed ovate shining pendulous furnished with a large 2-lobed fleshy caruncle, cotyledons plane foliaceous in copious albumen, radicle 

 very short superior. Trees, leaves alternate bistipulate petioled penniveined coriaceous entire without glands, flowers small fascicled in the axils, shortly 

 pedicelled or subsessile furnished with scale-like bracts. Thw. in Book. Land. Joum. of Bot. vi. p. 300. 



CHCETOCABPUS CASTANOCARPTJS. (Eoxb.) A tree variable in size, sometimes large, sometimes middling sized, 

 or small and muck branched ; young parts minutely pubescent, leaves oblong or ovate-oblong to broad lanceolate with a long 

 acumination, entire glabrous 3 to 9 inches long by 1 J to 3 inches broad ; petioles 3-4 lines long, stipules falcate, flowers axillary 

 slightly pubescent, the male more crowded about 2 lines long, stamens 8, the female slightly larger, bracts pubescent scale-like, 

 fruit subspherical as large as a nutmeg echinate with rigid inoffensive fragile yellowish-brown bristles, caruncle crimson. — Adelia 

 castanicarpa, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. p. 848. Choetocarpus, Thw. En. PI. Zey. p. 275. 



Var. /3. pubescens. — Young branches and under surface of the leaves more or less pubescent 



Ceylon, common in the Ratnapura and Ambagamwa districts ; Var. ft in the Pasdoon Corle; also found in Silhet, Khasia, Birmah, 

 &c. so that it very probably occurs in our Western ghat forests, but I have not met with it. The timber is very hard and in use for building 

 pwposes. 



Analysis. 



1. Branch of a female tree in young fruit (the glabrous variety.) 



2. Portion of a branch from a male tree in flower. 



3. Portion of a branch of a male tree (Var. /3 pubescens.) 



4. A male flower bud, 2 opposite pair of imbricate segments. 



5. A young male flower on first opening. 



6. A full male flower showing the lobed crenulate disk and the 8 stamens joined in a central column round the abortive ovary. 



7. Anthers, front and back view. 



8. Female flower, 2 sepals removed to show disk> the echinate ovary and styles. 



9. The same cut vertically, 3 cells each l-ovu!ed. 



10. A fruit cut vertically, seeds pendulous (in this instance small and aborting.) 



11. Ripe fruit of Choetocarpus coriaceus (life size.) 



12. Vertical section of the same. 



13, 14. Seed cut open vertically, showing the foliaceous tbin cotyledons seated in the albumen and the minute superior radicle near 

 the hilum. (Drawn from dried specimens ) 



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