IN CEYLON. 
177 
Staminodes indefinite 8-10-12, rarely epipetalous, when 
12 in number they are opposite and alternate to calyx 
segments ; anthers reddish-brown, barren, apiculate, gla¬ 
brous, 1*5 mm. long ; filaments yellowish-white, glabrous, 
2*5 mm. long. 
Pistil green, globose, densely pubescent ; stigmas 4, green, 
hairy, and fleshy ; ovary globose, 7 mm. long, 4 mm. diame¬ 
ter ; 4-6-celled, but orientation of loculi very irregular ; 
ovules usually disposed at right angles to the plane of antero¬ 
posterior axis and this apparently in consequence of pressure. 
Fruit solitary, green, globose-apiculate with few persist¬ 
ent hairs, 40 mm. high, 30 mm. diameter, 2-4-celled ; 
fruiting calyx slightly enlarged, 25 mm. diameter, pubes¬ 
cent, reflexed and undulated margin, small intersegmental 
groove ; acute apex of segment remains in contact with 
carpellary wall. (See pi. VIII., fig. 7). 
Seeds 1-4 per fruit, oval-wedge shape, 21 mm. long, 10 
mm. wide, 8 mm. thick; testa reddish-brown; endosperm 
copious, horny, ruminate ; embryo white, 15 mm. long. 
Seedlings .—None of the seeds germinated, but from a study 
of the embryo the following points were made out i —Traces 
three per cotyledon, epicotyledonary traces prominent and 
distinguishable in the resting embryo. The seedlings are 
very probably of the ordinary epigeal type with cotyledons 
which become detached at an early stage. 
Timber .—This species is one of the main sources of Indian 
ebony, possessing very durable black or streaked heartwood. 
- It is spoken of as Coromandel wood by Dr. Watt (Econ. 
Prod.) and it is difficult to understand why Trimen (FI. 
Ceyl., p. 99) refers to it as inferior to that of D. Ebenum. 
The majority of the trees still in Ceylon are certainly small 
and cannot yield much good heartwood. In one large tree 
trunk 320 mm. diameter the black heartwood measured 120 
mm. in diameter ; in another stem 270 mm. diameter, the 
heartwood measured 110 mm. diameter—a proportion which 
compares favourably with D. Ebenum. (See pi. I., fig. 5). 
