166 
WRIGHT : OBSERVATIONS ON 
plant measured 70 feet in height and the stem 45 feet in 
circumference. The dimensions of this unique specimen 
are not to be wondered at, if we accept the opinion of 
Meyen, and regard the antiquity of the tree as being greater 
than that of the Pyramids. The size reached in fifty years 
by the tree dealt with in this paper, however, perhaps throws 
some doubt on this supposed immense age of the Teneriffe 
specimen. 
Dracœna refleæa, Lam. 
Habit. — The specimen of D. reflexa figured at the end of 
these notes was introduced into the Peradeniya Botanic 
Gardens in 1847, and is therefore only some fifty-four years 
old. It is a native of Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, and 
Tropical Africa, and, as far as my information goes, always 
assumes an arborescent character. It is the very pronounced 
branching habit of the tree which gives it its interest and 
makes it worth a description and figure. No orie casually 
seeing the tree at Peradeniya would suppose it to be a 
monocotyledon. 
At Peradeniya it is unique among the monocotyledons 
in the complex nature of its branching system, and this, 
together with its large proportions, renders it a conspicuous 
object. It consists of a short main stem, irregular in out- 
line, and measuring nearly three metres in circumference. 
The stout branches given off reach a height of several 
metres from the ground, and after repeated divisions th 
thin twigs are terminated by crowded small leaves, usually 
enclosing an inflorescence. The total height of the tree is 
about ten metres, and the branches cover a total diameter 
of nine metres. It has therefore the appearance of a low 
branching dicotyledon, and compares in habit with such 
trees as Garcinia spicata^ Hk. f.. Gardenia latifolia, Ait., 
Jacquinia aristata^ Jacq., and Gynometra cauliflora^ L. The 
resemblance to the last-named is very striking, particularly 
if grown under open canopy. 
The other plants of D, reflexa now growing at Peradeniya 
are too young to give rise to such a form, though in nearly 
