Page:Illustrations of Indian Botany, Vol. 1.djvu/200

90 of Carpodontos, a genus which, with the foliage of the latter order, has the fruit of the former; and also of certain plants of Hypericaceae, which, according to Cambessedes, have a definite number of seeds. With Marcgraaviaceae they agree through Norantea, which has the stamens slightly adherent to the base of the petals, and fixed anthers; but that order is entirely different in habit, and is well marked by its singular cucullate bracts, its fruit, and its wingless exalbuminous seeds. Many genera of Ternstromiaceae, such as Kielmeyera and others, have the habit of Tiliaceae, while the fruit of Laplaceae is strikingly like that of Luhea; but the aestivation of the calyx and many other characters distinguish them."

The species of this order are for the most part tropical plants, some however, nearly confining themselves to the more elevated and cooler regions. The Gordonias and Cleyeras of the Peninsula and Ceylon are with one exception, so far we yet know, from the highest hills, that one is from Courtallum. The Neilgherries, the Pulney mountains, the elevated regions of Nuera Ellia in Ceylon, all produce species of one or both of these genera, while the on the lower hills I have only once seen or heard of either. Eurya and Cochlospermum on the other hand, both descend to the plains. Ternstramia is found at Courtallum in the shady jungles covering its hills, Camellia has not yet, so far as I have heard, been found either in the Peninsula or in Ceylon.

Of the whole order 40 species are enumerated as Indian in Dr. Wallich's list of Indian plants, whether all these will stand the test of further and more minute examination than, in the circumstances under which that list was prepared it was possible to give, appears doubtful, but whether or not, it seems certain that the amount of Indian species brought to light of late years is very considerable, since, at the date of the publication of the first volume of DeCandolle's Prodromus (1824) of sixty-two species known, for the whole world, only 19 were of Asiatic origin, nearly all the rest were from the West Indies and continent of America. Dr. Lindley states :i that between (50 and 70, all beautiful trees or shrubs are found in South America, while a few only are known from the northern division of that continent."

The geographical distribution of the order in India, both generally and individually, as regards particular genera and species, has recently attracted much attention with reference to the extension of the cultivation of the tea plant, it having hitherto been supposed, that it would not thrive, at least to such a degree as to render its culture an object of commercial importance, beyond the limits of those districts in China whence the produce has been so long and so largely exported.

These are but little known, and probably with the exception of Tea, are of but secondary importance. As ornamental objects, several species are largely cultivated, but above all the Camellia japonica, the pride of gardeners. The seeds of C. oleifera afford an excellent table oil and I dare say a similar is extracted from the seeds of the tea plant in those districts were it abounds, as they are known to contain so much oil, that it is difficult to keep them in a state fit for vegitation for even a few weeks. I do not however find it any where mentioned that the seeds are so applied. Some species are employed in America for medicinal purposes, and in some parts of this country the gum of Cocldospermum Gossypium (the yellow flowered cotton tree; is used as a substitute for gum Tragacanth. None of the species of the order are mentioned by Ainslie, in his Materia Medica, whence it would appear, they are but little it at all known to the native practitioners of India. On the properties of tea it would be out of place to dilate, since almost every one can give some account of them from personal experience, but on the capabilities of this country for its production a few remarks might be offered as the subject is one, at the present time, engrossing much attention.

The very elaborate dissertations of Messrs. Royle, McClelland, and Griffith, have put us in possession of much, and most valuable information, bearing on nearly every branch of the inquiry. Messrs. Royle and Griffith discuss in great detail the various points relating to the vegetable statistics of the plant, more especially those appertaining to its climatic habits, and the vegitation with which it is associated in its native country, in the hope of discovering from these data whether the climate it prefers, partakes more of the tropical or temperate character; that is, whether the tea plant, indigenous as it is to the tropics and their immediate confines, yet seeks the cool climate of high hills, or is contented to submit to the