PLATES IN ILLUSTRATION OF A HAND-BOOK TO THE FLORA OF CEYLON V1, TRIMEN, 1893

: A HAND-BOOK TO THE FLORA CEYLON OF CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE SPECIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS INDIGENOUS TO THE ISLAND, AND NOTES ON THEIR HISTORY, DISTRIBUTION, AND USES BY HENRY TRIMEN, M.B (Lond.), F.R.S., DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARBENS, CEYLON Mftb an Stias of plates ILLUSTRATING SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING SPECIES Part I RANUNCULACE^—ANACARDIACE^ WITH PLATES I—XXV LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON LONDON DULAU & CO., zi SoHO Square, 1893 W : LONDON PlllNTED BY STRANOEWAYS AND SONS, Towel Street, Upper St Martin's Lane INTRODUCTORY (Issued with Part LIBRARY I.) iSEW YORK "^ BOTANICAL GARDEN ONE principal object observers in Ceylon may plant they written about ciate tribution in in botanical all that and other to enable name of any is this arrived is may have been literature, to other plants, to trace appredis- its other lands, and to intelligently investigate and properties The it relationships with its When wild they are in a position to learn at, the to ascertain growing find Handbook of this its uses analytic Keys and descriptions here given for this purpose require for their use a general knowledge of the outside anatomy and structure of plants and of the terms in of the organs principal use for defining and dis- their different parts and modifications This knowledge can be readily obtained from any elementary work on Botany, and is here presupposed The descriptions tinguishing are, however, as little technical as I can make them con- sistently with accuracy The book refers to Ceylon on/y the Natural Orders and Genera it In the definitions of must be distinctly under- stood that the distinguishing characters here given for each group not include the whole of those which belong to it, but such only as are shown by the species found in Ceylon It is using this especially necessary to bear this in Handbook for educational purposes so happen that the Ceylon or Genus are more or less thendefinition given will be th^ group ^ as a whole members of a for particular exceptional, and by no means ; mind in it in may Order that case characteristic of — Introductory vi To and My a less extent this applies also to each species descriptions have been will thus often the range of form made wholly from Ceylon specimens, be not comprehensive enough to cover exhibited in other countries have, I throughout this Flora endeavoured to restrict all the information given under each species to it as a Ceylon plant only, excluding, as a rule, everything referring only to Peninsular India, Malaya, or other regions beyond our limit indeed, PLAN OF THIS HANDBOOK The sequence followed in all of the Natural Orders and Genera recent English systematic Floras, Bentham and Hooker's is that viz., that Genera Plantarum.' For the have kept mainly to the Flora of British India/ with which important work it is highly desirable that this Flora should be in general accordance When any deviation occurs from these standard books, attention is always of species drawn ' I ' to it After a diagnostic description of each Order there follows Key a brief for the rapid determination of its a fuller description of each Genus Key similar to its Each species paragraphs on the following plan I The followed by Botanical Name Italic (in whom that type) name was "^ is (in ; and species is treated in : Clarendon type) immediately by a reference first Genera afterwards given with a to the authority published, with the date No botanical name date than 1753, nomenclature.t in the modern taxonomic sense can be of earlier when Linnaeus first definitely published his binominal The Vernacular Names when known * When names t I is of any given may reference, I (also in local interest, the derivation of the generic Clarendon and specific a foot-note mention here at once that, for the sake of convenience of have uniformly written the adjective indicating nativity to in Ceylon zeyla7iicus-a-u)n^ disregarding the various other modes followed by authors, e.g., ceylanicus, zeylontcus, Sec — Introductory vii type) follow, the letters S and T signifying Sinhalese and Tamil respectively Tamil is the language and race of the Northern and Eastern Provinces only ; the rest of the island is Sinhalese There is, however, also a large immigrant Tamil population (from Southern India) employed as coolies upon estates, chiefly in the Central Province I am conscious of great imperfection in these names, and further research will doubtless add largely to those here given, and correct many errors Lists of some common of the S and T References (in prefixes are appended small type) (A.) arranged chronologically, to published books and papers where the species is treated of or noticed as a Ceylon plant, with any names ( = synonyms) there given when different to the one adopted A very large number have endeavoured but there are a few which are so regularly quoted that an explanation of them is at once to make necessary is referred to, for I ; : Herm.Mus ' of works these local quotations as complete as possible [P Hermann], MusaeumZeylanicum, 1717 A catalogue, mostly under their Siiihalese names, of the collection of dried plants collected by Hermann in 1672-77 in the neighbourhood of Colombo, and now in the British Museum [pp 71] Burnt Thes An alphaJ Burman, Thesaurus Zeylanicus, 1737 betical catalogue of the plants of Ceylon compiled from collections made by Hermann and Hartog Contains 10 good plates [pp 250] Fl Zeyl C Linnaeus, Flora Zeylanica, 1747 A catalogue, arranged on the Linnean system, of the Ceylon plants contained in Hermann's own Herbarium above referred to 429 species are determined and placed in their genera, leaving 228 species undetermined [pp 275 and plates].* Moon Cat A Moon, Catalogue of Indigenous and Exotic Plants of Ceylon, 1824 A list, arranged on the Linnean system, of all the plants recorded from Ceylon, with their Sinhalese names, and with references (often incorrect) to a few other authors 1127 species are given, of which 164 were considered to be new ones, and there are also 366 cultivated plants included A second part consists of an alphabetical list of Sinhalese names [pp 77, 41] Arn Pug: G A Walker- Arnott, Pugillus Plantarum Indis Orientalis, 1836 (In Nova Acta L C Acad Nat Cur vol xviii.) Full descriptions of a number of new species collected by Col and Mrs * At the date of this book Linnaeus had not invented his binominal system of nomenclature, and no species are therefore named in it For a critical determination of all the specimens in Hermann's Herbarium see my paper in Joum Linn Soc, vol xxiv pp 129-155 ' Introductory viii Walker from 1820 onwards (a few Southern Indian species are also included) [pp 38] G H K Thwaites, Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae, Tkw Ernon 1858-64 of the all A complete catalogue, with references and synonymy, plants of the island arranged on the Natural known System, and with descriptions (in Latin) of the many new species An extremely accurate and most valuable work from [pp 483] ; which I rarely find it possible to differ materially Trim Cat H Trimen, a Systematic Catalogue of the Plants of Ceylon, 1885 (in Journ R Asiatic Soc, Ceylon Branch, vol ix.) A list, corrected and completed up to date of publication, of all the Ceylon species ; arranged according to the Genera Plantarum ' [PP- 137]- The C.P numbers These are always quoted They refer to the large series of dried specimens of Ceylon Plants (4024 numbers in all) made up by Dr Thwaites from his own and his predecessors' collections, and widely distributed by him to herbariums and botanical museums throughout the world The herbarium at Peradeniya contains a very complete series, and the numbers quoted are always those in that collection, which must be regarded as the type-series.* A reference (also India ' in small type) to the 'Flora and to selected published Figures of the of British plant Much additional information will be found in the Fl B Ind.' about such of our species as extend into any other of the countries included In quoting figures preference is given to such as are in that work known to have been made from Ceylon specimens ' all The Description (in larger type) Whenever it is is consistent with completeness accurate identification.t appended been made from fresh living specimens ; and with sufficiency for list of the few abbreviations employed is possible, this has as brief as A (B.) * Latterly, however, Thwaites suppressed many of his early numbers, adopting a single one only for each species (as he considered it) Hence several numbers not now appear in Herb Perad., being there sunk under other ones + It may be well here to define the sense attached common terms which are rather variously employed in 02/a/= equally tapering to either end and about twice /rt«f^o/a/^ — equally tapering to either end and about broad oblong -m.ox& or less parallel-sided I not ; elliptic at all by me to certain descriptive floras as long as broad ; times as long as employ the term Introductory The frequency species, ix general distribiction in Ceylon and the comparative (in by small type) ; followed, in the case of the rarer special localities Very much has done in tracing out the distribution of our and the information here given is very imperfect, and will be much modified and increased by further investigation A brief account of the climatic regions and zones of altitude is appended (C) yet to be plants through the island, The time offlowering and colour of the flowers The flowering period is liable to considerable variation in different years and in different climatic districts, being dependent to a considerable extent on varying distribution of the rainfall ; correct as far as they go, cannot be regarded as at The the months here given,, all exhaustive general range of distribution beyond Ceylon (also in small type) Usually taken from the ' Fl Brit Ind.' with occasional additions or modifications Any subsequent paragraphs are occupied with brief notes on the history and nomenclature of the species, on any special peculiarity in its structure, and on its properties, products, and uses Intercalated in their proper places among the species thus which are not natives of Ceylon, but have been certainly introduced by the agency of man, and are now met with in a more or less completely fully treated are certain other plants wild or naturalised state in Italic, on in The names of these are printed not Clarendon, type, and the whole account runs a single paragraph The coloured figures (in 4to) accompanying this book are a small selection only from the extensive series illustrating the Ceylon flora which is preserved in the Library of the Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya This was commenced more than fifty years ago, and has been steadily continued under successive Directors It now numbers several drawings, and has been wholly the work of three thousand members X Introductory of one Sinhalese family employed successively as draftsmen — on the Garden staff Haramanis de Alwis, and George and William de Alwis, his sons The last-named has been the draftsman for the last twenty-seven years, and most of the drawings here reproduced are his work It should be added that many of the detailed dissections are the work of Dr Thwaites am aware of the imperfections in the following gaps remain to be filled up and doubtful points elucidated, to investigate which I have not had time or opportunity Much remains to be done by others, and indeed it is only by the co-operation of many observers that anything like completeness in the account of a large tropical flora can be attained I hope that one result of this publication may be to stimulate such observation and inquiry by those who have the opportunity to make them These cannot fail to add numerous facts and correct many errors; and I may add that any help, however small, of this kind, if communicated to me, will be gratefully received and utilised I pages well Many HENRY TRIMEN Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya January, 1893 Introductory XI APPENDICES (A.) COMMON PREFIXES IN THE VERNACULAR NAMES OF PLANTS Balu Bin or Bim Ba Dog Ground Dara Dat Woolly Angular Tooth Divi Tiger Diya Water Orange .° Dodan Dunu Sinhalese Embul Et Eta Gal Leaf Powder, dust Lunu Maha Salt or Ma Large Mai Mi Mian Flower Honey Buffalo-horn Mudu Sea Pale, white Mula or Mul Ndga or Nayi Bow Ela or Eli Kola Kudu Root Cobra Blue or green Herbaceous Sour Nil Great Paid Seed Panu Worm, Rock Leaf Bark, Gan River Pat Pattd Peni Gas Gedi Geta Tree Pini Dew Fruit Piti Flour Knot, joint Potu Goda Land (dry) Rana Gon Bullock Gam or Gan Hel Hin ° Ho Hoiida Hulan Ira or Ham Kaha Kahata Kalu Golden Foreign Red White Fragrant Skin Lofty Small Tel Bad Good Titta Wind Wal Walu Wild Striped Yellow Wana Jungle Astringent Wata Wei or Wela Black Ura Oil Edible Weli Wila Katu Thorny Yaka Kiri Milk Pod or Kana Karal Ran Iri Bark or Sambur Deer or fibre Sweet Rata Ratu or Rat Sudu Suvanda Gona Han Village, native insect Uru Bitter Pig Clustered or Yak Round Climber Sand Marsh Devil (=« wild) Introductory Xll Anai Chiru Tamil* Great Mul Small Ndkam Thorn Cobra Red Nal Good Ennei Oil Nari Jackal Erumai Buffalo Kaddu Jungle, wild Dog Water Che Kai Kal Hand Ndi Nir Pachu Stone Pal K.aru Black P^l Kdy Fruit Peru Seed Pdy Pon Koddai Kodi' Climber Kulam Tank Mdn Deer Ten Vaddu Cow Tooth Milk Large Devil ( = wild) Golden Honey Round Manchal Yellow Vellai White Maram Tree Ver Root (B.) ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE DESCRIPTIONS leaves Iflts leaflets ov carp stip stipules fr fruit infl inflorescence def definite ped pedicels indef indefinite fl flowers lat lateral cal calyx alt alternate sep sepals opposite cor corolla opp fem pet petals ft feet segm segments in inches stam stamens T Tamil fil filaments S Sinhalese anth anthers Herb Herbarium ovary carpels female An asterisk (*) before the name of a species indicates that it has probably been introduced into Ceylon by human agency Species included in [ ] are such as have been erroneously recorded as Ceylon plants * In combination, the terminations of these prefixes are often modified according to the initial letter of the word with which they are compounded ;; Sapindacecs Turpinia.'] ir TURPINIA,* 313 Vent fl bisexual, in opp., with interpetiolar stip Trees imbricate; pet 5-lobed, deeply panicles; cal 5, imbricate; slightly connate disk and with it outside stam 5, inserted ; ; ; disk cup-shaped, lobed ovules in each cell, ; style short, stigma sub-capitate fleshy, indehiscent, 2- or 3-celled, several-seeded ; T pomifera, DC Prod (1825) ii fruit ; seed angular, without an aril, embryo straight, in fleshy endosperm I m Fl B Ind bala, more ov 2- or 3-celIed, with or — Sp Kankum- Eta-hirilla, S T fiepalensis, Fl B Ind i Wall, Thw Enum 71 Wight, Ic t 992 698 C P 218 Bedd Fl Sylv t 159 A opp., large or small tree, young parts glabrous imparipinnate, rachis 2-6 in., striate, glabrous, Iflts 3-9 (1-4 pair and a terminal one), opp., on short furrowed stalks, 3-4|- in., tapering at base, strongly acuminate, obtuse, finely serrate, glabrous and shining, stip triangular, early deciduous in lax, axillary and terminal fl, numerous, on glabrous ped., pet panicles shorter than 1., cal.-lobes finely ciliate, obtuse stam erect, oblong-oval, obtuse, finely ciliate, as long as sep shorter than pet; fr nearly globose, |-i in., smooth, purplishseeds angular, shining, dark black, pericarp hard-fleshy ; ; ; ; brown Var )8 montana, Tlnu I c Lflts thick, coriaceous, more crowded, margins often revolute ; fl fewer, larger Moist low country common Var /3 in the upper montane zone white Fl March, October Also in S India, E Bengal, Malay Peninsula, and China ; common ; The young foliage of var /3 is brilliantly coloured pink- or scarlet orange, and very ornamental to the hill forests I am uncertain as to the true Sinhalese name of this common tree those above given are doubtful * Commemorates the French botanist and died 1840 artist P J F Turpin , Sabiacece [Meliosma^ XLL— SABIACE^ Trees; alternate, simple or pinnate, without stip sexual, irregular, small, in panicles ; fl bi- surrounded by several persistent bractlcts indistinguishable from them, in all 5-13; pet 5, distinct, unequal, larger valvate or imbricate,, much orbicular, concave, only sep distinct, ; smaller, bifid stam ; 5, opp and adnate to the smaller pet, fertile, distinct, fil dilated reduced to barren, scale-like staminodes, opp and adnate to base of larger pet disk small, annular, toothed ov 2-celled, with superposed ovules in each cell, style short, conical fruit an oblique drupe,, stone i-celled, i-seeded; seed globose, no endosperm at top, anth.-cells globose, the other ; ; ; Two of our three species are montane, the other inhabits the moist low country MEIiZOSMA, BL For characters, see Order L simple Bractlets Bractlets L pinnate I m and and sep about 13 sep about — Sp 20; 11 in Fl B Ind .1 M WiGHTll Wig-htli, M SIMPHCIFOLIA M Arnottiana B Ind ii (1876) C P 300, 59 (non Walp.) Wight, Ic t 964, {Millingtonia pungens) PIa7icli in Fl M pungens^ Thw Enum Fl B Ind A ii young shoots shortly woolly-pubescent; simple, 4-7 in., lanceolate or oblong-oval, acute at base, slightly attenuate, acute, entire or with a few sharp, shallow,, distant serrations in upper part, glabrous above except on veins, slightly pubescent beneath, stiff, harsh, veins prominent and reddish beneath, often with tufts of hair in axils, petiole ^-i in., woolly-pubescent fl small, nearly sessile, in clusters on the short branches of narrowly pyramidal, erect (drooping in bud), rufous-hairy, terminal panicles bractlets and sep about 13, broad, obtuse, ciliatc, the outer ones pubescent; large pet rounded, obtuse, with the margin involute, small ones bifid staminodes scale-like, various in form ov flaskshaped, glabrous drupe supported on persistent sep., ] in., nearly globular small tree, ; ; ; ; ; Upper montane zone Also in ; common Southern Indian Ilillb Fl April, September ; pale yellow SabiacecB, Meliosfiia.'] Scarcely differs from Wight referred M ptmgens, Wall, of the Himalaya, to which it m simplicifolia, Walp Rep Thw Enum 59 C P 703 Fl B Ind 315 ii Roxb Cor PI i Elbedda, 423 (1842) 254 {Millingtonia) t A moderate-sized tree, bark white, smooth, marked with large leaf-scars on the younger branches, young parts rufouspubescent 5-12 in., simple, obovate- or oblong-lanceolate, much tapering at base, obtuse or shortly acuminate and acute, ; entire, thin, glabrous above, slightly pubescent beneath on the veins and with tufts of hair in their axils, lat veins parallel, prominent beneath, petiole \-\ in., much swollen at base, nearly glabrous fl very small, nearly sessile, laxly arranged in large, spreading, pubescent, pyramidal, axillary and terminal panicles bractlets and sep about or 6, outer ones large pet rotundsetaceous, hairy, inner ones broad, acute oval, obtuse, small ones bifid with filiform segm drupe \ in., nearly globular, shining, purple ; ; ; ; Upper zone common of moist low country; very Fl Jan.; yellowish- white Also Bengal, and Burma in S India, E Wood pale reddish, moderately hard, rather light, splits readily nx Arnottiana, Waip Rep i 423 (1842) Millingtonia Arnottiana, Wight, 111 i 144 Thw Fl B Ind A hair ; Iflts ii Wight, 111 t Bedd 53 Enum Fl Sylv t 59 C P 293 160 moderate-sized tree, young parts with rusty, deciduous imparipinnate, rachis 4-7 in., pubescent or tomentose, 9-15, opp or nearly so, on short tomentose stalks, 2-3^ in., lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, often somewhat falcate, acute or rounded at base, usually caudate-acuminate, acute, entire, glabrous except on midrib above, more or less rustytomentose beneath fl small, very nearly sessile, crowded on the branches of copious, pyramidal, rufous-tomentose, axillary and terminal panicles bractlets and sep about 5, orbicular, very obtuse, ciliate large pet orbicular, small ones minute, deeply bifid drupe about \ in., ovoid-globular, usually with the remains of the persistent style near the base ; ; ; ; Montane zone, above 4000 ft.; common Fl April ; yellowish-white mountains of S India A great ornament to the montane forests when covered with its sheets The tree is bare of leaves for a short time of cream-coloured blossoms Also in in the Januaiy The wood and of is no value called ' Nika-dawulu ' at N Eliya ; it is light, spongy, I Anacardiaceo: Mangifera.'] 317 glabrous; pet oblong-oval, obtuse, recurved; ov pilose, style drupe broadly pyriform-ovoid, \ in., somewhat comshort ; pressed Low country rather gam a Morowak Korale ; ; Haldummulla GalaJaffna (Gardner) Hantane 2000ft (Gardner) Fl April; white rare ; ; ; Also in Southern India The Ceylon plant has rather thicker leaves and a little larger fruits than the type, and is called van zeyUmka by Engler (Mon Phan iv 184) Anacardhcm occidentalc^ L.,