358 ONAGBACUJS, [Teapa. 



,4i»partite, 2 or all the segments persistent and becoming spinescent on 

 the fruit. Petals 4, small, white, inserted at the margin of an 

 epigynons disk. Stamens 4. Ovary |«inferior, with a conical vertex, 

 2-celled ; style subulate, stigma capitate ; ovules solitary in each cell, 

 pendulous from the upper inner angle. Fruit bony, 1-celled, 

 obovoid, with 4 angles, 2 or all of which carry spines, indehiscent, 

 with a short cylindric beak at the top through which the radicle is 

 protruded. Seed 1, inverse ; cotyledons very unequal.— Species 3, 

 inhabiting C. and S. Europe and the tropical and subtropical regions 

 of Asia and Africa. 



This genus has been placed by some of the more recent authors in a 

 separate natural order called Hydrocaryaceoe. (See Eaimann in Engler 

 and Prantl Pflanzenf., Vol. iii, part 7, p. 223). Trimen in his Flora of 

 Ceylon, part ii, p. 23fi, following Roxburgh, maintains that the peculiar 

 pectinate organs borne by the submerged stems must, owing to their 

 position, be considered as appertaining to stipules rather than leaves. 



T. bispinosa, Uoxb- Cor. PI. 234; Fl. Ind. i, 428; W. ^ A. Prod. 837; 

 Boyle III. 211; D. Sf G. Bomb. Fl. 99; F.B.I, ii, 590; Watt B. D.; Field ^ 

 Gard. Crops, ;part iii, 3, t. xcviii.—Yevn. Singhdra. 



Xeaves 2 by 2i-3 in., crowded in the upper part of the stem, often some- 

 what 3-lobed, usually very villous beneath, posterior margin entire, 

 anterior crenate or serrate ; upper surface glabrous, shining, dark-green 

 and often mottled with brown, woolly and reddish-purple beneath;- 

 stipules linear, membranous, caducous ; flowering pBtiole short, elongat- 

 ing in fruit to 4 in. or more, upper dilated portion woolly. Fruit tur- 

 binate, ripening under water, 1-1^ in. long and broad, dark-brown, two 

 opposite angles each with a scabrous spine, the two others sometimes 

 obsolete. 



^Abundant in jhils and tanks within the area, often cultivated. Distrtb, 

 Throughout India and in Ceylon, also in S. E. Asia and Trop. 

 Africa, Flowers in the rainy season, and the fruit ripens during the 

 cold weather. The singhdra nut is largely eaten either cooked or raw, 

 especially by Hindus. It constitutes an important item of food- 

 material during times of scarcity. 



'Var. incisa, Wall. Leaves much smaller and less villous beneath, dentate 

 or incise-dentate towards the apex; petiole glabrescent. Fruit | in. 

 broad, the 4 angles all spinescent, but the 2 lateral spines shorter. 



LIIL-SAMYDACE^. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, often distichous, usually 

 petioled, simple, entire or slighily crenate or serrate, often closely 

 punctulate beneath; stipules small, deciduous. Floioers regular, 



