324 DESCRIPTION OF 



perm, and hooked embryo, are perfe61:ly similar. The fruit of virgatum I 

 have not yet seen, 



lo Phrynium dichotommn, R, 



Shrubby, dicbotomous. Leaves cordate. 

 Arundastrum Tonckat scjtan. Eiimph. amb. 4. t. 7. 

 Thaha eannceformis. Linn. sp. pi. ed. Willd. 1. 16, 



Donax Arundastrum, Loureir. CocJiinch. 13. is no doubt this very plant, but 

 v^hether Aublet's Maranta Tonchat, or not, I cannot presume to say, 



A NATIVE of various parts of India, Malay Islands, &c. delights in 

 humid, or watery situations. Flowering time the hot, and rainy seasons. 

 Seed ripe in July and August, 



PHRYNIUM DICHOTOMUM. 



Tonckat Seytan. Rumph. Thayng payng. Buck. 

 Jo . Beng. Muctapata, Mador-pata, Pattipata. 



Malay. Tankafc Shaitan, 



Mats made of the split stems of this plant, being smooth and particularly cool and refreshing, are 

 termed, in Hindi, Sital-pdti, which signifies a cool mat : whence the plant itself is said to bear the 

 same name. Suspecting, however, this to be a misappropriation of the term, I have Inquired of na- 

 tives of the eastern parts of Bengal, who assure me, that the plant is named Muctapatd, Mddur~ 

 pata or Pdttipata, and the mat only is called SitalpdtL 



This term is in use in Bengal, as well as Hindustan^ and is composed of words of Sanscrii 

 origin. It does not, however, appear that the corresponding compound term Sitala-pattica is 

 employed in the Sanscrit languagej as a name either for the plant, or for the mat made of its stem. 

 Note by the President. : - ^■■"' 



2. Phrynium virgatum. R. 



Stems simple. Leaves bifarious, lanceolate. 



Found in the late Dr. Anderson's garden at Madras, and from thence 

 introduced into the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, where it flowers in August, 

 but has not yet produced ripe fruit. 



The roots are ligneous, perennial, and creeping. Stems also perennial. 



