MANUAL OF INDIAN TIMBERS. 



I. DICOTYLEDONS. 

 ORDER I. RANUNCULACE2. 



A family which contains chiefly herbaceous plants. Besides Clematis and Nara- 

 velia, which are genera of climbing shrubs, Pceonia Emodi, Wall. ; Hook. Fl. Ind i. 

 30. Vern. Mamekk, Pb. is an erect undershrub of the Western Himalaya, whose root 

 is said by Stewart to be used in native medicine, and young shoots as a vegetable in 

 Kumauu. 



1. CLEMATIS, Linn. 



Of this and the neighbouring genus, Naravelia, 22 species occur in India. They 

 are distributed almost all over India : 11 are found in the North- West Himalaya, 14 

 in the Eastern Himalaya and Khasia Hills, 2 in Central India, 4 in the Dekkan, 4 on 

 the Western Coast and 10 in British Burma. 



The commonest kinds in the North-West Himalaya are C. grata, Wall., C. nutans, 

 Eoyle, and C. oriental^, Linn., with white or yellowish-white panicles of flowers ; 

 C. montana, Ham., with large white star-shaped flowers, and C. barbellata, Edgw., 

 with dull purple ones, common in the hill forests ; while C. Buckananiana, DC., 

 is conspicuous for its woolly leaves and large soft tomentose bell-shaped flowers. In 

 the Eastern Himalaya this latter species is the most common, with C. grewiceflora, 

 DC., covered all over with golden pubescence, and the beautiful pink-flowered C. smilaci- 

 folia, Wall. C. gouriana, Roxb. and Naravelia zeylanica, DC., are common in 

 Bengal, Central India, the Dekkan, and in Burma, where the second species of Nara- 

 vclia (N. laurifolia, Wall.) is also found. 



These climbers are all very ornamental, but they have little or no value, though 

 Kurz says that the " stems of the species from Burma while fresh are often used for 

 ropes and are very strong." Mathieu Fl. For. p. 9 gives the weight at 24 to 361bs. 

 per cubic foot for C. Vitalba, Linn, the European Clematis, or Traveller's Joy. 



1. C. montana, Ham. ; Hook. Fl. Ind. i. 2 ; Gamble 1. Vern. Ghantidli, Hind. 



H 2851. Mahasu, Simla, 8,000 ft. 



2. C. barbellata, Edgw. ; Hook. Fl. Ind. i. 3. 



H 2852. Mahasu, Simla, 8,000 ft. 



H 3156. Theog, Simla, 7,000 ft 40 Ibs. 



3. C. grata, Wall. ; Hook. Fl. Ind. i. 3. Vern. Ghantidli, Hind. 



H 2850. Simla, 6,000 ft. 



4. C. Buchananiana, DC. ; Hook. Fl. Ind. i. 6 ; Kurz i. 17 ; Gamble 1. 



H 2838. Simla, 6,000 ft. 



Woody climbers, with a fibrous bark arid a porous yellowish-white 

 wood, with broad or very broad medullary rays and pores which vary 

 from small to very large. 



