Cassia Pods and Carob 425 



Greek xa-poviriov, Italian carrobo or carrubo, Spanish algarrobo, French 

 caroube or carouge), is based on the Semitic name. Lelekl is another 

 Persian word for the tree, according to Schlimmer, 1 peculiar to Gilan. 



The Arabs distinguish three varieties of carob, two of which are 

 named saidalani and fabuni. 2 There is no doubt that the Arabs who 

 were active in transplanting the tree to the* west conveyed it also to 

 Persia. A. de Candolle does not mention the occurrence of the carob 

 in that country. It is pointed out, however, by the Mohammedan 

 writers on Persia. It is mentioned as a cultivation of the province 

 Sab Or by MuqaddasI 3 and Yaqut. 4 Abu Mansur discusses the medicinal 

 properties of the fruit in his pharmacopoeia; he speaks of a Syrian and 

 a Nabathaean xarnub? Schlimmer 6 remarks that the tree is very 

 common in the forest of Gilan; the pods serve the cows as food, and are 

 made into a sweet and agreeable syrup. No Sanskrit name for the 

 tree exists, and the tree itself did not anciently occur in India. 7 



A botanical problem remains to be solved in connection with Cassia 

 fistula. DuHalde 8 mentions cassia-trees {Cassia fistula) in the province 

 of Yun-nan toward the kingdom of Ava. "They are pretty tall, and 

 bear long pods; whence 'tis called by the Chinese, Chang-ko-tse-shu, 

 the tree with long fruit ( H IP£ ■? m) ; its pods are longer than those we 

 see in Europe, and not composed of two convex shells, like those of 

 ordinary pulse, but are so many hollow pipes, divided by partitions 

 into cells, which contain a pithy substance, in every respect like the 

 cassia in use with us." S. W. Williams 9 has the following: "Cassia 

 fistula, t*t ^6 flf hwai hwa tsHn, is the name for the long cylindrical pods 

 of the senna tree (Cathartocarpus) , known to the Chinese as Van kwo-tse 

 $u, or tree with long fruit. They are collected in Kwah-si for their 

 pulp and seeds, which are medicinal. The pulp is reddish and sweet, 

 and not so drastic as the American sort; if gathered before the seeds 

 are ripe, its taste is somewhat sharp. It is not exported, to any great 



1 Terminologie, p. 120. The pods are also styled tarmiS. 



2 L. Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. II, p. 16. 



3 P. Schwarz, Iran, p. 32. 



4 Barbier de Meynard, Dictionnaire geographique de la Perse, p. 294. 



5 Achundow, Abu Mansur, p. 59. 



6 Terminologie, p. 119. 



7 The alleged word for the carob, gimbibheda, given in the English-Sanskrit 

 Dictionary of A. Borooah, is a modern artificial formation from qimbi or gimba 

 ("pod"). According to Watt, the tree is now almost naturalized in the Salt Range 

 and other parts of the Panjab. 



8 Description of the Empire of China, Vol. I, p. 14 (or French ed., Vol. I, p. 26). 



9 Chinese Commercial Guide, p. 114 (5th ed., 1863). 



