Page:Illustrations of Indian Botany, Vol. 1.djvu/248

126 ''opposita. Flores verticillati sessiles''. If. is in truth the only plant of !he genus in Ceylon, having sessile verticelled flowers. In his generic character he describes the anthers, antherœ subrotundœ, the pistil ''germen subrotandum striatum., stylus, nulus. Stigma quadrifidum persistent'', and finally, the pericarp. Pomum subrotundum octies sulcatum octoloculare — showing clearly that the character of the flower and ovary is taken from one species, and of the fruit from a different, owing to the imperfection of his specimens and his not being aware that the lobes of the stigma afford a sure indication of the number of cells of the fruit. His Cambogia, however, baring this error is certainly the Gamboge plant of Ceylon, which is further established, as Dr. Graham informs us, by the examination of the specimen in Herman's Herbarum, " which may be considered the type of Linnæus' Cambogia gutta — If therefore that plant is to be elevated to the rank of a genus I should say his name ought unquestionably to be retained with an amended character, and Botany relieved from the unseemly allusion conveyed under the new one. If Murray's Stalagmitis is on account of priority to supplant Roxburgh's Xanthochymus, much more must Linnaeus' Cambogia supplant Graham's Hebradendron, partly for the same reason, priority, but principally, because Dr. Graham knew when he gave the name, that his plant was identical with that of Linnaeus, while it was almost impossible that Roxburgh could ever recognize his Xanthochymus in Murray's character of Stalagmitis, made up as it is, from two genera (Garcinia and Xanthochymus) so distinct as not to be referable even to the same natural order. In my opinion Stalagmitis ought to be suppressed, and Xanthochymus retained.

In my collection there are specimens of I think, though not without some doubt, a third species referable to this section, (fruit sulcated) the fruit is 4-celled, with four deep abrupt furrows, and of an oblong conical shape.

14. G. conicarpa (R.W.) Fruit conical, 4-seeded,4-furrowed, furrows angular: leaves sub-spathulate, very obtuse, longish petioled : flowers sub-sessile in the terminal axils: (?) male — stamens few, 8-12, filaments united into a slender column, equalling the sepals.

Hab. Female — Shevagherry hills in deep mountain valleys — Male : Ceylon. I have introduced a mark of doubt before the character of the male, from feeling uncertain, on account of the very different stations, whether or not it appertains to the same species. In the form of the leaves and position of the flowers they agree.

§ III. Anthers sessile, depressed-fattened above, l-celled, dehiscing circularly, ( circumscissile ). Cambogia--Lin.

15. G. gutta (R.W.) Flowers sessile, aggregated in the axils of the leaves, apparently verticelled round the articulations of the branches where the leaves have fallen, fruit globose, about the size of a cherry, 4-seeded, leaves from broad lanceolate, to rhomboidal, obtusely attenuated at both ends.

Ceylon frequent, not uncommon about Colombo, and generally on the south-west coast of the island.

Cambogia gutta Lin. Hebradendron Cambogioides, Graham, Hooker's Comp. Bot. Mag. with all his synonyms, including the above of Linnæus. Lind : Flor. Med. R. W. III: Ind. Bot. tab. 44.

16. G. pictoria, (Roxb.) Flowers axillary, solitary, anthers of the male flower " peltate" of the female " 2- lobed and seemingly fertile" fruit, very slightly furrowed between the seeds ; seeds four.

''Hab. — Malabar and Wynaad, jungles''.

Though I consider this a distinct species I am unable from an examination of Roxburgh's drawing and description, to assign better characters. The difference of the anthers of the female flowers afford the best mark, which in the former are like the male " peltate," in this 2-lobed and 2-celled, (the ordinary structure) and of course reducing the value of that character as a generic distinction.

17- G. elliptica ? (Wall.) Leaves large, coriaceous, elliptic, obtuse, abruptly and shortly acuminated : female — flowers sessile, axillary, ovary 4-celled, anthers circumscissile.

''Hab. — Mergui''.

My specimens of this plant were communicated by Mr. Griffith, they are the female only and somewhat past flower. I was however enabled to refer it to this section, by the examination of some anthers which were still attached, and also by the habit, especially the sessile flowers. The leaves are longish petioled, and at least three times the size of those of the Ceylon plant, of an oval shape, and very little attenuated at either base or apex. I refer it doubtfully to Wallich's elliptica, on the authority of Dr. Graham, who states that it G. elliptica Wall, agrees in the character of the anthers with his Ceylon specimens.

Do the following belong to this section ; and are they distinct species ?

18. G. lateriflora (Blume, Bijd. 1, page 215), Ramuli roundish, leaves elliptic oblong, obtusely acuminated, acute at the base, coriaceous : flowers congested, lateral, sessile — (Calyx 4 sepals, petals 4, stamens monadelphous, in a single series ; ovary, 4-celled ; stigma sessile, muitifid : berry globose, 4-celled — a tree 40-50 feet high.)

Obs. — The female flowe. only of this seems to be known whence he infers the species is hermaphrodite, and on that account distinct from.

19. G. javanica, (Blume, 1. c.) Ramuli roundish, leaves oval, acute at both ends, blunt pointed, coriaceous: flowers congested, sessile, aggregated, (allied to G. dioica) — a tree 30 feet high, flowers dioicous, yellowish, ovary slightly furrowed, 4-celled.

Obs. — The sessile aggregated flowers and 4-celled fruit of both these plants, leads me to suspect that they both belong to this section, and that they are but varieties of the same species.

20. G. gutta, Roxb. Hort. Beng. Wall, list N. 4866.

21. G. boobicowa, Roxb. 1. c.

22. G. bhumicowa, Wall. 1. 4858.

23. G. fascicularis, Wall. 1. 4853.

24. G. affinis, Wall. 1. 4854.

25. G. heterandra, Wall. 1. 4856. 26. G. corymbosa, Wall. 1. 4859.

27. G. umbilifera, Roxb. 1. c. and Wall. 1. 4864.

28. G. lobulosa, Wall. 1. 4868.

29. G. elliptica, Wall. 1. 4869.

30. G. Choisyana, Wall. 1. 4870.

31. G. acuminata, Wall. 1. 4871.

32. G. euginifolia, Wall. 1. 4873.

G. malabarica, (Desrous) Lam. diet. Dyospyros species ?

G. elliptica, (Choisy). Stamens pentadelphous — Xanthochymus species ?

? G. longifolia, (Blume). " Stigmate, sub. 5 — radiato" Xanthochymus species ?

?, Blume, Bijd, 1-218.

Calyx. 4-parted, persistent. Petals 4, fimbriated. Disk, hypogynous, bearing' the stamens on its margin. Stamens 8. Ovary, 6-8 celled •, cells, 3-ovuled. Style, filiform. Stigma, peltato — radiate. Berry globose, pulpy, 4-6 celled. Seeds compressed, solitary by abortion, fixed to the axis.