THE MAGAZINE 
OF 
THE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE, 
COLOMBO 
Added as a Supplement monthly to the "TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST". 
The following pages include the contents of the Magazine of the School of 
Agriculture for April : — 
INDIGENOUS FOOD PEODUCTS— CULTI- 
VATED AND WILD. IV. 
By W. A. De Silva. 
Tiliacece. 
10. Greiibia tiliafolia, Vhl. — This is a tree known in 
Sinhalese as Damaniya, and is commonly found in the 
warmer parts of the island. It has large simple leaves 
and the bark of the tree is fibrous and thick. The 
fruit is small and three-sided, having three seeds. 
The trees bear fruit abundantly in one season of the 
year. When unripe, they are of a green colour and 
rather soft and astringent. But when ripe they put 
on an appearance of a purplish red colour, and the 
whole fruit, excepting of course the seeds which are 
rounded and three in number and attached to one 
another, becomes of a pulpy nature. The berries, when 
ripe, have a pleasant sweetish-acid taste and could be 
eaten. The young and tender portions of the tree 
contain mucilage. As a food product this tree 
occupies no place of importance. It is said that in 
the North-We6tern provinces of India a| kind of 
sherbet is made from the small fruits of another 
variety of Grewia, The wood of this tree is light and 
loose grained but tough with fibrous matter, and 
the timber is very elastic ; and hence it is generally 
Used In cart building, he. 
11. Eleocarpvs serratus. L. Sinhalese Werahi— is a 
tree found growing in the warmer parts of the island 
Up to an elevation of 2,000 ft. The tree attains some- 
what large dimensions, but takes a long time to do so' 
The stem is generally not very straight, and the branches 
come out iu large numbers from the terminus 
assuming as it were an arboraceous form. The leaves 
are 6mall, having serrate margins and are of a green 
colour when fresh, but assuming a purplish colour 
when fading. The flowers contain a large number of 
stamens and the petals are white and fringed, falling 
off early. The fruit is a drupe, and is oblong in shape ; 
it is of a dark green colour, both when immature and 
ripe. But when it is immature the pericarp is rather 
hard and astringent; when lipe it is very soft. Th e 
seed is covered with a hard covering and the endosperm 
inside the seed is of a white colour. The pericarp 
surrounding the seed is used in eating ; when ripe it 
is soft and is of a pleasantly sour taste, but when 
immature it is astringent and sour. The unripe 
drupes are sometimes boiled, salted and eaten, 
whilst the ripe fruits are eaten in various ways with 
sweets, &c. This fruit is also used for pickles and jellies. 
The endosperm found inside the seed is also eaten 
and resembles the almond in some respects. 
Geraniaccw. 
12. Oxalis cornicv.lata. Sin. Heen Embulembilya. — 
Found abundantly in rich moist fertile grounds up to 
very high elevations. It is seldom found growing in 
barren places. It is a succulent herb with small green 
ternate leaves : the three leaflets go to form a circle 
and each leaflet is composed of two curves. The whole 
thing appearing to be eight curves in a circular form; 
The petioles of the leaves are thin and round and 
rather loDg. The flowers are small, consisting of a 
polysepalous distinct calyx of a green colour and a 
corolla of a yellow colour ; the stamens are distinct 
and the ovary consists of 5 carpels. 
The fruit is a small elongated pointed capsule of 
a green colour and having five sides of angular shape, 
somewhat in resemblance of a miniature Bandakkai 
(HiMscus esculentis) fruit. The seeds are arranged 
in rows. There is a peculiar characteristic in the fruit 
of this herb. That is, when the mature fruits aro 
touched they begin to spirt out the feeds in different 
ways. The leaves as well as the whole plant have a 
mildly acid taste, and the herb when procurable in 
quantity is used as a salad, and also is cooked into a 
