DAPHNIPHYLLUM ROXBUEGHII. (Nat. order Eupborbiaceae ?) 



DAPHNIPHYLLUM. Blume.— GEN. CHAR. Diajcious. Calyx very small 3-8 parted, petals or [rudimentary. Male, stamens 5-12, 

 anthers 2-celIed dehiscing longitudinally ovate thick on very short filaments radiating from a central disk. Female, ovary ovoid incompletely 2-celled with 2 

 pendulous ovules in each cell. Styles 2 united at the base shortly recurved undivided, stigmas papillose, berry ovoid indehiscent, seed solitary, embryo 

 minute at the apex of a thick fleshy albumen, radicle superior. Trees or shrub3, leaves alternate on long petioles entire coriaceous, flowers in axillary or late- 

 ral racemes. Blume. Goughia, Wight Icones 1879. Gyrandra, Wall. 



DAPHNIPHYLLUM ROXBUEGHII. (Baillon.) A good sized glabrous tree, leaves oblong or subobovate gene- 

 rally obtuse or retuse ■with a small mucro, more rarely acute or acuminate very coriaceous, 3 to 4J inches long by l£-2 broad, dark 

 shining green above glaucous beneath, petioles 1-1£ inches long channelled above, racemes axillary from a little shorter to a little 

 longer than the petioles. Male, calyx minute and soon deciduous but exceeding the filaments, stamens about 8. Female, calyx 5-6 

 parted, the segments very unequal, generally 2-3 nearly equalling the ovary, the others very small, rudimentary, petals 2-5 or 

 altogether 'wanting, irregular and unequal opposite or alternate with the segments of the calyx, styles short spreading, ovary 

 glaucous, drupe oblong about \ an inch long crowned with the remains of the styles, nut hard and rugged. Baillon. Miph. 565. 

 Goughia Neilgherrense, Wight Icones tab. 1878-79. 



A very common tree on the Nilgiris, Pulneys, and Anamallays, and other mountains on the west side of the Presidency, and in Ceylon at 

 elevations from 4000 feet upwards, also indigenous in Hong-hong, Loochoo, Corea and in Japan ; called Nir-chappay by the Bvrghers on the Nil- 

 giris ; the wood is very inferior but makes excellent fuel. Its foliage makes it highly ornamental for shrubberies, &c. 



Analysis. 



1 . Branch of female tree in flower and fruit. 



2. A female flower. 



3. A 6-parted calyx opened, no petals present. 



4. A 5-parted calyx opened, showing the presence of 5 rudimentary petals. 



5. Ovary cut vertically, ovules pendulous. 



6. Ovary cut transversely, incompletely 2-celled, the cells 2-ovuled. 



7. Ripe fruit cut vertically. 



8. The hard putamen or Dut. 



9. The embryo. 



10, 11, 12. Branch of male tree and male flowers, copied from Dr. Wight's drawing. Nos, 1 to 9 drawn from living specimens collected 

 on the Nilgiris, 



288 



