4 Contributions towards a Flora of Ceylon, 



ORD. NAT. CLUSIACE.E. 

 Mesua nagaha, Gardn. 



M. foliis lanceolatis basi obtusis vel acutiusculis apice 

 acuminatis, acumine obtusis, coriaceis supra viridi-nitentibus 

 subtus glaucis, floribus axillaribus terminalibusque solitariis 

 vel geminis, pedicellis petiolo plus duplo brevioribus, petalis 

 obcordatis sessilibus margine undulatis, capsulis globosis de- 

 pressis. 



Mesua ferrea, Moon Cat, Ceyl. PI, p. 51. Wight. Icones 

 Plant, t. 118. fnon Linnceus.) 



Hab. — On the west side of Ceylon, from the sea level to 

 an elevation of about 2,000 feet. Flowers in May. 



Descr. — A tree 20 to 60 feet high. Leaves 4-7 inches long, 1 6-24 

 lines broad, when young of a blood-red colour : petiole 5-7 lines 

 long, subterete. Pedicels 2-3 lines long. Flowers white, 3% inches 

 in diameter. Sepals 4, in two series, roundish, concave, slightly 

 puberulous, ciliated, those of the external series much smaller, and 

 connate at the base. Petals 4. Stamens numerous, monodelphous 

 at the base : filaments filiform, yellow : anthers oblong, orange 

 coloured. Ovary conical, depressed, glabrous, white, imperfectly 

 2-celled, with two erect, compressed ovules in each cell. Style 

 filiform : stigma peltate, concave : capsule globose, depressed about 

 an inch in diameter, nearly 1 -celled from the almost entire absorp- 

 tion of the dissepiment, 2-valved, with a septicidal dehiscence, 2-4- 

 seeded. Seeds large, erect, concave, or flattened on their inner 

 surface, convex on the outer : testa coriaceous, of a chestnut colour. 

 Embryo exalbuminous, orthotropous : cotyledons very fleshy, of a 

 yellowish colour, distinct, but adhering rather firmly together ; 

 radical small, inferior, directed towards the hilum. 



Obs. — This, the Na-gaha of the Singhalese, and the Iron- 

 wood of the English, has been confounded by Moon and 

 Wight with the Mesua ferrea of Linnaeus, a very different 

 species, as I have been able to determine from excellent 



