500 ODOItOGRAPHIA. 



the pericarp of the true riitcili, and the form of the seeds differ so 

 much from the Padri,thatwe can hardly consider them as varieties 

 of the same species, although the specific character, exhibited in 

 the supplement of Linnaeus, corresponds ^'ery nearly with botli 

 plants. The Patali blossoms early in the Spring, before a leaf 

 appears on the tree, but the fruit is not ripe till the following 

 winter;' For Figure, see Wight's Icones, t. 1342. 



Bignonia chelonoides, above referred to by Sir AYilliam Jones is 

 the Stereospermiim chelonoides, D.C., figured in Wight, Icones, t, 

 1341 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv., t. 72 ; Ptheede, Hort. Mai., vi., 26. It is 

 also an inhabitant throughout the moister parts of India and has 

 very fragrant flowers. Its vernacular name in Hindustani is 

 Piidri. In the Concan and Malabar, where S. suaveolens is not 

 found, this tree is used as the PataLi of the Xighantas : i.e., the 

 bark, Howers and root are used medicinally. Vide Van Klieede. 

 Ainslie, Mat. Med., ii., p. 272, says : " This pleasant tasted root, as 

 well as the fragrant flowers of the tree, the Yytians prescribe in 

 infusion as a cooling drink in fevers." 



Pioxburgh, Flor. Ind., iii., p. 100, describes the tree botanically as 

 follows : — 



A native of the mountainous parts of the coast of Coromandel^ 

 where it grows to be a large tree. Flowering-time during the hot 

 and rainy seasons. The seed ripens in December and January, 

 Trunk very straight, of a great height and thickness. ' Bark thick,, 

 scabrous, brown. Branches very numerous, the inferior horizontal 

 above, gradually becoming more and more erect to the top ; leaves 

 opposite, pinnate, with an odd one, about 20 inches long ; leaflets 

 opposite, short petioled, generally four pair, the inferior smallest, 

 obliquely oval, pointed, sometimes slightly notched about the 

 margins, wdien young downy, afterwards smooth, about 4 inches 

 long by 2 broad: petioles about 9 inches long, channelled, smooth: 

 stipules none: panicles terminal, the larger ramifications decussate, 

 the smaller or terminal 2-forked, with a sessile flower in the cleft ; 

 peduncles and pedicels round, covered with oblong, grey, scabrous 

 specks; bracte small, caducous: flowers large, yellow, ven/ 

 fragrant : calyx 5-notched : nectary, a yellow, fleshy ring 

 surrounding the base of the germ : fllaments, there is a fifth sterile, 

 one between the lower pair : anthers double, stigma 2-cleft ; 

 silique very long, slender, twisted ; receptacle of the seeds spongy, 



