340 LIII. LYTHEACE^ [Lagerstroemia 



Ic. t. 1996. Sea coast and tidal backwaters on tlie "West Coast, from Malabar south- 

 wards, also in Tinnevelli. Coast of Tenasserini and the Andamans. — Ceylon. Tropical 

 coasts of East Africa to Australia and Polynesia. A grey silky-hairy shrub or small 

 tree, 1. thick, fleshy, numerous, ^-IJ in. long, readily disarticulating, fl. pink, solitary, 

 axillary, hexamerous, calyx campanulate, 12-ribbed, segments short, with minute teeth 

 between, stamens 12, ovary free, imiDerfectly 3-celled. Capsule enclosed for | of its 

 length in the persistent calyx-tube, opening by the top coming off like a cap, seeds 

 numerous. 



2. DUABANGA, Ham. ; FL Brit. Ind. il. 578. 

 Species 2, one in the Indian Archipelago. 



D. sonneratioides, Ham.; Ktirz I". M. i. 525. Vern. Lampatia, Nep. ; 

 Mymthigo, Lower, Mafi, Upper Burma. 



A tall handsome tree, wood greyish-brown, branchlets drooping with the 

 weight of the £owers. L. opposite, distichous, from a cordate base oblong, 

 tapering to the end, blade 7-15^ petiole stout, -^-J in., sec, tertiary and intra- 

 niarginal nerves prominent. Fl. 2-3 in. across, in terminal corymbs, buds large 

 globose. Calyx cup-shaped, segments 6-8, usually 7, thick triangular. Petals 

 white, crumpled, falling off early with the stamens. Stamens go, in a single 

 row, filaments as well as style in flexed in bud. Ovary adnate to the .calyx at 

 its base, 4-8-celled, ovules oo, stigma 4-B-lobed. Capsule coriaceous, opening 

 loculicidally into 4-8 valves, supported by the thick spreading calyx. Seeds 

 00 , minute, testa produced at both ends into long pointed tails. 



Subhimalayan tract fi-om Nepal eastwards, ascending to 3,000 ft, Assam, IvLasi 

 hills, Manipur, Cliittagong. Andamans and Nicobars. Burma, common near streams 

 Fl. Jan.-April. — Perak. Tonkin. Yunnan. 



Lawsonia alba, Lam. ; Wight 111. t. 87 ; Bedd. Manual t. 14 fig. 6. The Henna Plant. 

 Vern. Mendi, Mehudly Hind. ; Manidi, Sind ', G-oranti^ Kan. ; Gorinta^ Tel. ; Dan^ Burm. 

 Indigenous in Arabia and Persia^ probably also indigenous in the drier parts of the 

 Peninsula and Ceylon (sand dunes near Tuticorin. S. B. Peb. 1882), Cultivated and 

 naturalized throughout India. A glabrous shrub, branchlets often spinescent, 1. 

 opposite 1-1 J in. long. PI greenisli-yellow, very fragrant, tetramerous, J in. across, 

 on short slender pedicels, in large terminal panicled cymes. Stamens usually 8, in 

 pairs between the petals. Ovary free, 2-4-celled. Capsule globose, base supported by 

 the persistent calyx, pericai*p brittle, bursting irregularly. Seeds numerous, angular, 

 truncate, testa thick, cotyledons £at, orbicular. Leaves powdered and made into a paste, 

 used to stain finger-nails, teeth and beard. 



8. SONNERATIA, Linn. f. ; PL Brit. Ind. iL 579. 



Litoral evergreen trees, entirely glabrous. L. opposite, entire. Calyx 

 thickly coriaceous, usually 4- or 6- (rarely 7- or 8-) lobed. Petals none or as 

 many as calyx-segments. Stamens oo, inserted at the mouth of calyx-tube, 

 inflexed in bud. Ovary nearly free, many-celled, placentas thick, axile, ovules oo. 

 Pr. fleshy, indehiscent, supported by the persistent calyx, base adnate to calyx. 

 Seeds numerous, angular. Species 4-6, tropics of the old world. 



A. Petals as many as calyx-segments. 



. 1. S. acida, Linn. f. ; Wight Ic. t, 340 ; Bedd. PL Sylv. Manual 1. 15,%. 1, 

 Vern. Ora, Orcha^ Sundr. ; Tiwar, Mar. ; Blatttj ThiralajMsl.; TabUj Tamn, 

 Burm. 



A small tree, attaining 30 ft., 1. obovate, gradually tapering into a broad 

 short petiole, 2-4 in. long. PL 2 in. across, solitary at the ends of branchlets, 

 calyx-tube shallow, not ribbed, segments 6-8, usually 6, acute, longer than 

 tube, petals dark purple, linear, acuminate, 1| in. long. Pr. depressed-globular, 

 2-2 1 in. diam., edible. 



Sundriban. Coast from Chittagong to Tenasserim, ascending the rivers as far as 

 the tides. Delta of tlie Indus. Coast and tidal waters of the Peninsula. PL E. S. 



