148 



XXXI. OLACACEiE 



[ OlctQ^ 



Fl, C. S. Ceyloiij Oliina. 2. 0. Wiglitiana, Wall. Erect or climbing, evergreen 

 forests on tlie west side of tlie Peninsula, from Nortli Kanara southwards. L. glabrous, 



sliining, 



m., 



base 



Pkj. 68. — Olax scandens, Boxb. ^. 



8-4 

 rounded. FL cream-coloured 

 in axillary often compound 

 corymbs, pedicels spreading, 

 longer tlian half tlie flower, 

 drupe nearly covered by the 

 calyx. Closely allied is 3. 0. 

 imtoricata, Roxb. Chittagong, 

 Tenasserim, Andamans, Indian 

 Archipelago •, an unarmed 

 climber, branch lets terete. L. 

 3-6 in., racemes distichous, 

 the rather large bracts imbri- 

 cating in bud. 0. merguens'is^ 

 Planchon, Tenasseiim, Malaya, 

 is not specifiGally different. 

 4 0. acuminata, Wall., Assam, 

 Bhutan, Ivhasi hills, Silhet, 

 Dacca, branchlets angled. L. 

 lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 racemes few fid., shorter than 

 or as long as petioles, drupe 

 red, fleshy. 5. 0. nana, Wall., 

 is a small under shrub in grass 

 lands of the Subhimalayan 

 tract and Bengal, with a large 

 woody rootstock, which sends 

 up shoots annually after the 

 jungle fires, with subsessile 



■ous straggling 



lanceolate leaver and solitary axillary flowers on slender peduncles 



Xtmenia americana, Linn. (PlnU Kayi?i, Pinle Zi, Burma). A glabr 

 shrub armed with short straight spines, on the coast of Tenasseium and the Andamans. 

 Inland on dry stony ground in the Deccan ; littoral in the tropics of both hemispheres. 

 L. blunt, entire, lJ-2 in. long, turning black in drying. Fl. whitish, generally bisexual, 

 ^ in. long, calyx cup-shajjed, d~5-toothed, j^etals revolute, on the upper surface 

 densely bearded, stamens 8-10. Drupe ovoicl, 1 in. long, orange red when ripe, imlp 

 edible, stone hard, 1-seeded. 



Ersrtliropaluni scaadens, Blume, Sikkim, Khasi hills, Manipur, Chittagong, Burma, 

 Cochinchina, Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, is a powerful woody climber, with 

 axillary tendrils. L. membranous, ovate, with three basal nerves, blade 4-6, petiole 

 |-2 in, Fl. minute, pentamerous, bisexual, in slender, long peduncled, dichotomous 

 cymes, calyx tube adnate to ovary and much enlarged in fruit. Petals short, broad, 

 slightly coherent at base, inserted outside the large cupular, fleshy, 5-lobed disk, stamens 

 5, opposite to petals. Fr. oblong, |-1 in., yellowish, crowned by the scars of the calyx 

 lobes, embryo minute, near the apex of tlie large fleshy albumen. Two other species 

 closely allied and probably not distinct : 2. E. populiMiTina, Masters *, Western Ghats 

 from North Kanara southwards. L. subcoriaceous, triangular-cordate. 3. E. vagum, 

 Masters ; Sikkim, Assam, Khasi hills, Oachar. L. subcoriaceous, ovate-oblong, blade 

 4-9 in., basal nerves 8-5. 



2. STROMBOSIA, Bl; M. Brit. Ind. i. 579. 



Evergreen trees. M. bisexual, pentamerous, in slxort axillary cymose 

 fascicles. Calyx cup-shaped, free or adnate to base of ovary, petals free, 

 hairy within, stamens 5, opposite to petals. Drupe crowned by the remains of 

 calyx, embryo minute, in a fleshy albumen. Species 6, Indo-Malayan region. 



1. S. ceylanica, G-ardner ; Bedd. M. Sylv. t. 137. 



Trunk erect, branches drooping, wood soft, shining, pale yellowish-brown. 

 L. coriaceous, glabrous, shining, elliptic-oblong, blade 4-6, petiole | in. IPL 

 pale greenish-white. Fr. |-1 in. 



;Evergreen forests of the Western Grhats from the Konhan southwards. PI. 0. S 



