680 
THE TEOPICAL AGl^ICULTURLST. 
[April I, 1899, 
Ceylon flora. Of genera not indigenous in the islaud, 
but ■wi'lcly cultivated, or more or le^s naturalised, are 
the scarle.t bracted I'oiiisnltia pttlclien inta. of Mexico ; 
the T illow tiGft cl China, Exciecaria schijfia ; the 
American 2/anih'i! ulilisniuia, yiel ling Onsaav i and 
Tapioen, tocfcthiii.' with t'le three receiitlv introduced 
Araerican Indiai uhbei; producing plmitrt, Ilcvea iiianil- 
ifnsi.f, the Para ruljbcr, illotnhot Otazior-i'i, the Ceaia 
Kubbi^r, and Castilloa elastiea, the Mexican Bobber. 
— J.D.H. 
TliP only plant of the order (FJuphorbiacese) 
we f»'(il called on to notice is that named after 
Mr. Macrae* " Macraia myrtifolia," a species 
of Phyllanthus myrtifolius, thus desoibed 
as to where found, <tec. : — 
Moist region by stream:^ 1,000 —2,000 ft. ; rare. Neftf 
Kandy ; Umaoya; Dolosbage. VI. April, Sept., &c. 
purplish-red or greenish. 
Endfiniic. — A very ornamental shrub when covered 
with the multitude of small pendulous flowers. 
The next order is Urticace*, or the nettle 
tribe, though some have al.so milky juice, 
the explanatory note by Dr. Trinien beiiig :— 
A very largo, chiefly tropical family, to which belongs 
the common nettle. The steuH of many yield a 
Tftluable fibre, especially the I'acilic Island lirou^- 
sonetia, from the ii,iier bark of which tappa cloth is 
made. Ceylon, though containing more th:in half 
(27) of the nuuiber of genera of l 'nictu-e.<c occurring in 
British India (J5), is poor compiiratively in apeciea. 
Of tlieee there are nearly yoO in British India, biit only 
about OS in Ceylon. 
The geneia and si)ecies cover some 40 pages, 
14 of these being occupied with the varion.s 
members of Ficus, .some 21 genera in all, to 
which interesting notes are appendctl in each 
case ; for example, '• Ficus bengalensis 
Lowcouutry to 2,000 ft., especially in the dry region, 
but always, 1 think, planted. Fl. December. Fr. dark 
red. Tlie well known 'Banyan' of Europeans, in 
which the tendency to form aerial roots from 'the 
branches which become additional stems is c.-.rried to 
its greatest extent. There are several fine specimens 
in Ceylou, as at Jnffua, Negombo, itc, and in Hook. 
.Journ. Bot. iii. (1811) at t. 13 is a drawing by Major 
Forbes of a tree near Matale ; but it does not seem to 
be indigenous. It is said to be native in the sub- 
HimaUiyan forests and the lower slopes of the hills 
of S. India. 
"Ficus tonientosa " : — 
Eocky places and old buildings in the dry re"iou • 
rather rare. Nilgala ; Mihiatale ; Polounarnwa ;''Bin-' 
tenne ; Trinoomalee. Fl July-September ; Fr.' grey, 
Roxh. Also in India. Abundant in the ruin's of 
Polonnaruwa, which it has done nmtli to destroy. 
Specimens in Herb. Perad. have 1. uvate to orbicular, 
quite glabrous above, finely puberulous bcneatii 
"Ficus altissima— var. Fergusoni" : — 
Moist lowoountry to 3,000 ft.; common. Fl. Ac".- 
Novembef. Fr orange-red, as large as a cherry. 
This var. endemic ; the type and other vara, in India 
Burma, Andaman Is., Malaya. I am not clear as to 
whether the type occurs wild in Ceylon, though it is 
given in Fl. B Ind. There are trees in the Botanic 
Gardens, and I think I have seen it by the Mahaweli 
below Kandy, Dr. King erroneously spells W. 
Ferguson's name with double " s", after whom he names' 
this tree. 
"F. TriMeni" :— 
Lowcountry to 2,000 ft. ; rather rare. Peradeniya; 
Kadugaunawa; Bkiriankumbura, Uva. Fl. April- 
May, July- Aug. Fr. orange-yellow or red when ripe, 
not dotted. Also in Western Peninsular India. A 
msgni.'jcent specimen of this species, with the branchei 
covering a circle of about 200 ft. in diameter, is a 
* Superintendsnt ef Pf^radeniya Gardens, 1827-30 
well-ktown fef.tme of the Per^(!f.ni>* Gardens. It 
grew at firbt ep phylicHlly on a Jark-trte, which it 
aestroyed aud supplanted. 
" Ficas nervosa " :— 
J!oi8t t«KioBup to 5,000ft.: ratbfr rare. H. uerat 
ROda abundant ; HanlMic ; IIun.v-j;iriv« ; M.iurala- 
n,V ^"K",''''- D-JftBiber. India, Bunim. China Mai.iya 
Ibe (,eyIon tree is v»r. miner, Kii^g, and differ* from 
the conliuejital type lo iu smaller leaveb, wiih fewer 
lateral veins, and globose rtcepts. 
/•'. rtliyioea, L , Ho. S., Arachu, T. (CP 3b7j!i ig & 
commonly planted tree, aud invariably found by every 
Bnddhm temple, but U nowhere wild. The tarred 
tree at Auuradhapura, brought from Mat-adha, id 
India, in n.c. 28«, and carefully tended aud guarded 
ever since, is not improbably the original ^oux^ of all 
forests only There are .pecimens iu Hermaauf 
Herb, (.ee Mas. Zeyl. 42, ana Fl. Zeyl. u. 372j. 
F. asperrima " :— 
Moist region up to 3,000 ft. ; common Fl iU Fr 
orange yeUow, or pale yellow with orMuge Hpots! 
Also in Peningular India. The young Icavet ara 
Boinetime.s deeply luci.ed. This is the ' Furokur« letf " 
of the English, and is generally in lue for polithiuff 
as Hand-paper in Europe. ""enmg, 
" F. Thwait«sii " : — 
nn^to^^'^i^ffr''''' ^r^' '""^ ''^^ ">oi't r*.gicn 
up to o 000 ft. ; rather common. Colombo • HuLtTn^ . 
fer'' V^'nt'" V^"'"^'"'^^ = Uuna4"rrva': MorS 
Korale. 1:1. March. September. Fr pai; pZZh 
yellow or nearly white. Endemc. The '^lendi' 
creeping rootiag stems look very unlike the frH 
C 1 J21,). Ihi8 IS the c«rhest name for the s .eciel 
but It was Riven merely to the barren stems * ' 
Ofanother si>ecie.s. "CVItis Cinnanioniea " « 
very h„e colom-ed figure is given u on/. ..f 
the plates, and we read :- " 
Moist region 2-5^ ft. ; rather common F) Feb 
March; greenish, t. Bengal, Burma, Maia v Archi 
pel,.g.. The name ci„numomea refers "to the cLfi' 
of the leaves; Thwaites" name. rfv/.o</JXn to to- 
very disgusting smell of the fre^h wood esneciallv 
when wet, of wh ch the Sinhalese tLm^ i./^ ^' 
under the name 'Pmari,' and is zexnorf- i » T'^'u"". 
wbere It is -ployed 'af^^ 'fU!g\C;Vg°att^; 
we'aSfloTd S'''-'''' '^'"^^l-^^ -hich 
Moist low country up to 2,000 ft. ; common T?i 
June. Endemic. The outer shells of^f 
tre1''A'o7"s %T/°t''' f-, is the weU-known .Jak 
lowcoun iy^fir^ts frui't "bufZ '>f '""'"'T'' ^° 
introduction to Ceylon but no ^L^<- ^ ° 
distant period ; ouWoislv w ^' * "^'T 
