t successfully, in the Peradenia Garden, and in that attached
to Elie House at Colombo. But in Toompane, and in the valley of
Doombera, its loveliness vindicates all the praises bestowed on it by
the poets of the East. Its orange and crimson flowers grow in graceful
racemes, and the Singhalese, who have given the rhododendron the
pre-eminent appellation of the "great red flower," (_maha-rat-mal_,)
have called the Asoca the _diya-rat-mal_ to indicate its partiality for
"moisture," combined with its prevailing hue.

[Footnote 1: Jonesia Asoca.]

But the tree which will most frequently attract the eye of the
traveller, is the kattoo-imbul of the Singhalese[1], one of which
produces the silky cotton which, though incapable of being spun, owing
to the shortness of its delicate fibre, makes the most luxurious
stuffing for sofas and pillows. It is a tall tree covered with
formidable thorns; and being deciduous, the fresh leaves, like those of
the coral tree, do not make their appearance till after the crimson
flowers have covered the branches with their bright tulip-like petals.
So profuse are these gorgeous flowers, that when they fall, the ground
for many roods on all sides is a carpet of scarlet. They are succeeded
by large oblong pods, in which the black polished seeds are deeply
embedded in the floss which is so much prized by the natives. The trunk
is of an unusually bright green colour, and the branches issue
horizontally from the stem, in whorls of threes with a distance of six
or seven feet between each whorl.

[Footnote 1: _Bombax Malabaricus_. As the genus Bombax is confined to
tropical America, the German botanists, Schott and Endlicher, have
assigned to the imbul its ancient Sanskrit name, and described it as
_Salmalia Malabarica_.]

Near every Buddhist temple the priests plant the Iron tree (_Messua
ferrea_)[1] for the sake of its flowers, with which they decorate the
images of Buddha. They resemble white roses, and form a singular
contrast with the buds and shoots of the tree, which are of the deepest
crimson. Along with its flowers the priests use likewise those of the
Champac (_Michelia Champaca_), belonging to the family of magnoliaceae.
They have a pale yellow tint, with the sweet oppressive perfume which is
celebrated in the poetry of the Hindus. From the wood of the champac the
images of Buddha are carved for the temples.

[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner supposed the ironwood tree of Ceylon to have
been con