224 VERBBNACEM. [Vitex- 



central lobe o£ lower lip usually largest. Stamens didynamous, 

 usually exserted ; anther-cells at first parallel and pendulous, after- 

 wards divaricate, often twisted so that their bases become suberect. 

 Ovary 2-4-celled, with 1 ovule in each cell, style filiform, stigma 

 shortly bifid. Fruit a globose or obovoid drupe supported by the 

 somewhat enlarged calyx ; endocarp bony, 4-or by suppression 3-1- 

 celled. Seeds obovate or oblong. — Species 100, in all tropical and 

 warm temperate regions. 



1. V. Negundo, Linn. Sp. PL 638; Roxb. Fl. Ind. Hi, 70; Boyle III. 

 299; Brandis For. Fl. 369; Ind. Trees 503 ; F. B. I. iv, 583 ; Watt E B.; 

 Kanjilal For. Fl. 265; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 539,; CollettFl. Bind. 380; 

 Train Beng. PL 833; Cooke FL Bomb, ii, 428.— Vera. Shiwari, meivri, 

 nishinda (Dehra Dun), malla (Saharanpur) shamalu (Bijnor). 



A shrub or small tree, with a thin grey bark ; branchlets 4-angled, densely 

 white-tomentose. Leaves 3-5-foliolate ; leaflets stalked, 2-2-| in. long, 

 lanceolate, acute, entire or rarely crenate, suhglabrous above, white- 

 tomentose beneath, petiolule of terminal leaflet f-i in. long ; lateral 

 smaller and with much shorter petiolules, common petiola 1-1$ in. long. 

 Flowers in peduncled cymes forming large terminal often compound 

 pyramidal panicles ; branches 4-angled, closely white-tomentose bracts 

 Ya~Yo i n « l 0n g> lanceolate, caducous. Calyx -| in. long, white-tomentose ; 

 teeth small, triangular. Corolla f in. long, lavender to blue, tomentose 

 outside, hairy at the insertion of stamens ; upper lip deeply 2-lobed ; 

 lobes obtuse, mid-lobe broadly obovate, crenulate ; the two lateral ones 

 shorter, oblong, obtuse. Drupe about ■§• in. in diam., black when ripe. 



Abundant within the area of this flora in waste ground and on the banks 

 of streams, also much planted to form hedges. Flowers during the 

 greater part of the year, but chiefly between March and April. Distrib. 

 Throughout India and in Ceylon. N. W. Himalaya up to 5,000 ft. and 

 westwards to Peshawar and Afghanistan, extending to Trop. Africa and 

 Madagascar, and to China and the Philippines. The plant is much 

 recommended for the regeneration and reclamation of forest-land, 

 especially in those areas which are liable to injury by floods. The 

 branches are largely used for wattle-work and in the manufacture of 

 baskets, and the leaves laid over stored grain are said to keep off 

 insects. The roots, leaves and fruit are used in native medicine, and the 

 ashes are largely employed as an alkali in dyeing. The plant appears to 

 be not much eaten by cattle. 



F. trifolia, Linn., a species closely allied to the preceding, and with a 

 somewhat similar distribution in India, is known only as a cultivated 

 plant within this area. It may be distinguished by its simple or 

 3-foliolate leaves, by its sessile always entire obtuse leaflets and also by 

 its rather larger flowers and fruit. Outside India it is found in Burma 

 and in the Malay Archipelago, and from China, Japan and the Philip- 

 pines to N. Australia. 



