306 NILGIRI HILLS. scarlet seeds with which the ground under the tree is strewn. The foliage of the Michelia is of a light green colour, and contrasts with the dark green of most other species. Three kinds of Eugenia form a striking contrast with the Michelia, with their dense dark green foliage, composed of masses of thick leathery aromatic leaves. Eugenia montana, with large broad leaves, the shoots sharply quadrangular; Eugenia calophyllifolia, with small stiff blunt leaves, making a flattish dense crown; and Eugenia Arnottiana, with larger pointed leaves and an abundance of white blossoms which come out early in spring. Other species with dark green foliage are Ilex Wightiana, with red berries, Ilex denticulata and Ilex Gardeniana, large trees belonging to the same genus as the English holly. Several species of Elæocarpus, with large handsome leaves, which turn bright red before falling, and most elegant flowers, arranged in long branches, the petals white or pink and deeply cut. The fruit of these resembles the olive, and is eaten. Sideroxylon elengioides, a large tree with small white blossoms similar in structure to, but much smaller than, the mahu of Central India, to the natural order of which it belongs. The fruit is made into a pickle, and is eaten with curries. Meliosma pungens, with large ribbed leaves and upright panicles of small white blossoms which are an ornament to the hills in spring, and which again come out into flower after the rains. Cinnamomum zeylanicum, which botanists identify as the same species as the Ceylon shrub, the bark of which is the cinnamon of commerce, with shining leaves, easily distinguished by their aromatic scent, and three prominent veins running from base to apex. The cinnamon belongs to the same natural order as the true laurel, and there are numerous trees of the same order in the sholás, all easily known by more or less aromatic leaves. One of them, Litsæa zeylanica, is distinguished by its pale bluish-green leaves. Two trees of the saine order to which the Camellia and the Tea belong, remarkable for their handsome flowers, are the Gordonia obtusa, which adorns the sholás near Kúnur in the months of June and July with its white flowers. In the centre of each flower is a mass of golden yellow antlers, resembling the flower of the tea bush. The other is the Ternstromia japonica, with smooth shining leaves and elegant yellow flowers. A third trce of the same order is the Eurya japonica, with clusters of small white flowers in the axils of the leaves, a handsome tree widely distributed over Eastern Asia, extending as far as the Fiji Islands. Euonymus crenulatus, a fine tree with dark brickred blossoms closely allied to the English spindle tree, and with its capsules similarly shaped, is another of the sholi trees near Utakamand. Outside the existing forests, isolated trees are often found in ravines, or near villages where they have been protected, the remains
