IN CEYLON. 
69 
There are no records of careful observations made upon 
particular trees for many years in succession, and though the 
writer is prepared to admit the probability of the above 
contention, experience in the forests has led him to believe 
that the production of flowers in Ceylon Diospyros trees 
is by no means a rare occurrence. The great size of the 
trees, the inconspicuous nature of the flowers, and the 
uninhabitable districts in which many of our species occur, 
have led most people to believe that flower production is 
much rarer than it really is. We may, however, safely 
say that there is much irregularity in flower production, 
and the phenomenon can only be explained by a study 
of the individual equation of the plant we are dealing 
with. 
Age of Flowering Trees .—In the absence of precise infor¬ 
mation on the rates of growth of tropical trees we can best 
state our ideas under this heading in terms of cauline 
dimensions. The majority of our dry zone species, parti¬ 
cularly D. Embryopteris and D. ovalifolia, do not flower 
until the trees have attained considerable dimensions. 
Specimens of the former having a circumference of 3 
feet and of the latter over 1 foot in girth are now growing 
at Peradeniya, but have not yet flowered. One specimen of 
D. quæsita, having a breast-height circumference of 47 cm. 
(18^ inches) and known to be over sixty years old, has not 
yet flowered at Peradeniya. Trees of D. Ebenum, D. afiflnis, 
and D. Gardner! are known to repeatedly flower at Pera¬ 
deniya, and have a breast-height circumference varying from 
38 to 50 cm. (15 to 19^ inches). 
On the other hand, trees of D. hirsuta and D. Thwaitesii 
in their native habitat flower when their stems have a 
diameter of 4 to 6 inches ; D. pruriens may flower when 
the dimensions are still less, and trees of D. acuta and D; 
attenuata have been seen in flower when the diameter of 
their stems has not exceeded 25 mm. (1 inch). The 
following table is given with a view to elicit more precise 
