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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVII. 



very stiff, with conspicuously recurved margin. Lateral 

 veins about twelve pairs, often less, conspicuous below. 

 Stalks about one and a half inch. 



A rather rare tree, occurring sparingly in the wet forests 

 up to about 2,500 feet in the Province of Sabaragamuwa. 

 Rare in the Western Province. 



Wood pale white or yellowish, soft, quickly decaying. 

 Suitable for tea boxes, but rather heavy. 



[Hantane, Kurunegala, Maturata.] 



255. — Ficus hispida. 



Kota-dimbula, S. <*ffi&o©£^)^. 

 Trim. Cey. Flor., vol. IV., p. 94. 



A small much-branched tree, with thin gray bark and 

 horizontal ribs on the stem. Easily distinguished by its 

 opposite large leaves. Leaves oval-ovate, nearly caudate, 

 very harsh to the touch, hairy, with three to five pairs of 

 conspicuous lateral veins. Stalks about one and a half to two 

 inches. Fruit very fig-like, axillary, often growing on old 

 wood near the base of the tree. 



Common in both Provinces in the wet forests up to 

 3,500 feet. Often found near swamps. 



Affords a very useful substitute for sandpaper in its 

 hispid leaves, an allied species — F. asperrima — doing the 

 same. The wood is worthless. 



I have considered it undesirable to include all the well- 

 known Banyan trees in this list, for though they are of 

 interest botanically, and on account of their appreciation as 

 religiously venerated plants, most of our Ceylon examples 

 find no other use beyond ornament. The familiar Bo 

 (Ficus religiosa), so intimately associated with Buddhist 

 temples (and said to have spread artificially from the 

 historical tree at Anuradhapura, that has a record as far 

 back as 288 B.C.), and the stately spreading Banyan (Ficus 



