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3. Kokoona ceylanlca Thwaites in Hook. Kew Journ. Bot. 5: 380. 1853. (Fig. 111).
Sinh. Kokun, Pottueta, Wanapotu.
CELASTRACEAE
A very large tree with a rough,corky,grey bark,inner bark yellow and young parts glabrous;
leaves simple, opposite, stipulate, 6.4—10 cm long, obovate, cuneate at base, rounded or
.retuse at apex, entire or faintly serrate, coriaceous, glabrous above, paler beneath and
'punctate with numerous, minute, glandular dots each covered by a red scale; petioles 1.2 cm
long; stipules very minute, triangular, persistent; flowers regular, bisexual, dull yellowishbrown,
1—1.2 cm diameter, in axillary or extra-axillary panicles much shorter than leaves,
pedicels glabrous, bracts minute; sepals 5, fused into a 5-lobed, cup-shaped calyx, lobes very
shallow and glabrous; petals 5, contorted in bud, rounded, concave, thick, dotted within; disc
fleshy, perigynous, green and lobed; stamens 5, inserted on top of the disc; ovary superior,
3-1 ocular with two pairs of ascending ovules in each loculus, style short, stigma capitate; fruit a
bluntly trigonous, oblong-ovoid, loculicidal capsule, 10 cm long, with four seeds in each
compartment, valves thick, coriaceous, glabrous; seeds compressed, over 7.5 cm long, winged,
orange-yellow.
Flowers from March to May.
Illustrations. Thwaites in Hook. Kew Journ. 5: pi. 6. 1853; Beddome, Flor. Sylvat.
pi. 146.1868—73; Kirtikar and Basu, Indian Med. PI. pi,.234/4.1933;Herb.-Peradeniya., drawing.
Distribution. Occurs in the Annamallay hills in India and in Ceylon. It is rather rare
in Ceylon and found in forests in moist regions between 1000— 4000 feet altitude. Pelawatte,
Pasdun Korale; Ratnapura; Ambagamuwa; Udugama and Hiniduma Forests.
Ceylon. Without locality, Thwaites CP. 2084.
Uses. The inner bark, which is yellow, is used in the treatment of diabetes, snake-bites,
swollen joints, eye diseases and headaches. With other drugs, it is used in treating framboesii
pimples and diseases of the skin. The bark may also be used to lighten the colour of the skin
and for removing marks from the face. It is often used as snuff for severe headaches.
The oil from the seeds is used as a leech repellent.
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