IN CEYLON. 
19 
The lateral and reticulate bundles are invariably pellucid ; 
sometimes this character is not very conspicuous, as in 
D. affinis ; in other species, particularly D. Embryopteris, 
D. Ebenum, and D. Toposia, the translucent character of 
the small bundles is the most striking feature of the 
foliage. 
The reticulate meshwork is of a closely knit nature in D. 
Toposia ; and in D. Embryopteris, particularly var, nervosa, 
the meshwork is wide. 
The pellucid venation, though characteristic of every 
Ceylon species of Diospyros, is not limited to this group of 
plants. It is prominent throughout the Anonaceæ, and also 
characterizes the foliage in species of Anacardium. 
Climatic Types .—The majority of the Ceylon species have 
tough coriaceous leaves, this being particularly characteristic 
of D. insignis, D. Embryopteris, and D. Ebenum. The 
coriaceous type of leaf is prevalent in nearly every one of 
our dry zone species. In the wet zone species we may have 
the fleshy type of leaf, as in D. acuta and D. Moonii ; the 
densely pubescent and thin type, as in D. pruriens ; or the 
normal tender leaves, as in D. attenuata and D. Thwaitesii. 
The fleshy type and the densely pubescent type are, as far 
as the Ceylon species of Diospyros are concerned, limited to 
the very wet zone. The pubescent type, as exemplified in 
the leaves of D. pruriens, is found in a part of the Island 
where the rainfall is never less than 300 inches per year ; 
D. hirsuta, which in point of pubescence comes next to D. 
pruriens, likewise thrives best in the wet districts of Eratna 
and Ratnapura. 
Persistence of Foliage .—The Ceylon species of Diospyros 
are of the evergreen type. This is characteristic of the 
genus throughout the world, there being very few excep¬ 
tions, notably D. Tupru, Buch., which according to Beddome 
sheds all its leaves in the cold season and produces new ones 
in the beginning of the hot weather. The twigs of D. 
