1. Shobba.] 18. DIPTEBOCARPACEJE. 



Fam. 18. MPTEROCARPACE/E. 



1. Shorea, Roxb. 

 Trees, containing resin, with alt. entire simple leaves. 

 Stipules caducous. Fls. in axillary and terminal panicles, 

 bracts often caducous sometimes 0. Calyx 5-sepalons. 

 Petals 5 contorted in bud, St. oc hypogynous, connective 

 appendaged. Ovary 3-celled, cells 2-ovuled. Style subulate. 

 Fruit a 1-seeded nut closely embraced by the bases of the 

 greatly enlarged sepals. Cotyledons fleshy unequal, one 

 embraced by the other, hypogeal in germination. 



1. S. robusta, Gaertn. Sarjom, K., S. j Sakua, Kharw ; 

 The Sal tree. 



Throughout the a,rea. In many of the deep valleys of Singbhum, Bonai 

 and Gangpur it attains 12 ft. girth and 120 ft. high, the soil being a deep 

 loam derived from the decomposition of gneissic rocks. On the hills of 

 clay schist it is a stunted tree attaining 30-40 ft., and it occurs in a very 

 stunted form on the top of Parasnath at 4,400 ft. elevation which is above 

 Jie elevation it generally attains in the Himalayan region. Large trees 

 are now very scarce in the other districts where the forests have been 

 mostly ruined and the trees are mostly coppice shoots which frequently 

 flower as mere bushes. 



Gamble records a tree in a sacred grove in the S. P. (at Talpahari) 

 10i ft. girth and 120 ft. high. 



Fl. March-April, in some years the flowering extends into May. 

 Fr. June- July. Nearly or quite leafless in March. 



Stipules i-|" oblong, covering the young buds. The panicles arise 

 direct from the old wood and on the new shoots, the flowers are unilateral 

 on the branches.^ Petals with a twisted acumen, free with overlapping 

 bases. Filaments very swollen below. 



Campbell says the best time for cutting is October, and that the timber 

 is then much more durable. The logs should, of course, always be barked 

 immediately after felling. The fuel and charcoal are excellent, and the 

 latter is said by the Kols to be the best available for iron smelting. 

 The seeds are eaten but are said not to be very wholesome. It was 

 previously much tapped and destroyed for resin before the reservation of 

 the forests. The resin (dunra, K. ; sarjom lore, 8 ) is used in medicine and 

 for caulking. The leaf is the usual covering of the Kol cigarette (fikr). 

 The seed should be sown as soon as ripe, but the earliest to fall are 

 usually bad. The stalks of the cotyledons are very long, and ii the 

 primary shoot is injured or dies subsequent shoots arise from their 

 axils. The first pair of foliage leaves are opposite. 



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