THE CUSTARD-APPLE 



ANTIARIS 



TOXICARIA 



Upas Tree 



tree of tin- Su'> -Himul.ivan tracts from the Ravi eastward to Central and 

 In.lia. AM-.-M.U to 3,000 feet in altitn.lr. 

 ( .1 M is used in calico-printing "inl has been suggested as likely to be Gum. 



! >: upland (Journ. Chem. Soc. Induct., Dec., 31, 1887, 79). It is 

 v exported, and constitutes the bulk of the Gum Ghati sold in Bombay (see 

 ; |.p. I.",. 17). [('/. Hooper, Edible Gum, R- />/. Lnbur. Ind. Mtu., 1904-5, 23.] 

 l.-uM's yield a black DYE and a TAN. Hummel (Select. Rec. Oovt. Ind., Dye*ndTn. 

 !^>> '.'. <:'.) valued the leaves for tanning purposes at 4*. 2Jd. per cwt. (about 

 '.'! t liinl . .1 tin- relative value of divi-divi). A tanning extract has been prepared 

 fn. in tin- l-ark 1 > Hooper, containing 43*8 per cent, of tannin. The TIMBER is Timber. 

 .HI. I tough, but splits in seasoning and will not stand damp. It is used for 

 mil.-, .i\lcs, etc., also in furniture-making and ship-building, and has been 

 in.'iitlod for railway sleepers. It gives a good fuel and charcoal. The 

 \\liit.--\\a\ iii--.-t i'ri-iiiiiintr* rvrifrriiH) has been reported as found on this 

 tree. Other two species of economic interest are * ncutntmtta. Wall., chakwa, 

 pane/it, etc., met with in Bengal, South India and Burma, which yields a poor 

 TIMBER; .t. ,>.-n>ini-i, wall., dhau, dhaukra, etc., a small gregarious tree of the 

 dry forests of Rajputana and Bandelkhand, which coppices well and yields a 

 much like that of -*. iHttfaiia. 



ANONA SQUAMOSA, Linn., and A. RETICULATA, Linn. ; D.E.P., 



Fl. Br. Iu'L. i., 78 ; Pharmacog. Ind., i., 44 ; ANONACE*;. * 269-61. 



The former is the CUSTARD-APPLE of Anglo-Indians, SWEET-SOP or SUGAR- APPLE Custard - 

 (West Indies and America), sharifah, sitaphal, dta, luna, sitd-palam, sitd-punda, apple. 



Inranji, etc. A small tree native of tropical America but much cultivated 

 in India. In Central and Western India it occurs wild and so abundantly as 

 almost to constitute forests. The latter is the Bullock's Heart, or ramphal, 

 nnnxita, which yields an inferior fruit sometimes eaten. 



The bark affords an inferior FIBRE and the fruit, bark, leaves and roots are Fibre, 

 used in MEDICINE, the latter being considered a drastic purgative. The crushed Medicine, 

 leaves are applied to the nostrils of women in hysterical or fainting fits. Dymock 

 informs us that the seeds yield an OIL and three RESINS : the latter appear to be 

 the acrid principles and are useful as INSECTICIDES. The same quality is ascribed Insecticide. 

 T.I the leaves and immature fruits. The FRUITS are eaten by both Natives and food. 

 Europeans, and in the West Indies a kind of cider is made from them. The 

 fruits of the wild plant have proved useful in famine. The cultivation is said 

 to be simple. The seeds, obtained fresh from the fruit, are sown in pots about the 

 middle of February. The seedlings are transplanted into holes 3 feet deep by Propagation. 

 3 feet diameter, which have been filled with cow-manure, old mortar and garden 

 soil in equal parts. The trees should be pruned and re-manured every March 

 or April and well watered until the rains set in (J. H. Dieves, Ind. Gard., 

 Feb. 23, 1899). The Custard-apple is in season in Bengal during the greater part 

 of the rainy and cold months (Firminger), and constitutes one of the chief fruits 

 of that season. Another species, the Chirimoya of Peru (.4. t'ltfi'imuiin. Miller), 

 is cultivated in parts of Burma for the fruit, and it appears to do well 

 Land Rec. Admin. Rept., Rangoon, 1904, 18.] 



ANTIARIS TOXICARIA, Lwli.; Fl. Br. hid., v., 537 ; Gamble, 

 Man. Ind. Timbs., 651 ; URTICACE.E. The Upas Tree, jasund, karwat, 

 alii, jaziigri, aranjili, hmyaseik, etc. A gigantic tree of the evergreen 

 forests in Burma, the Western Ghats and Ceylon. 



Very full accounts of the legendary attributes of this tree and of the investi- 

 gations into the subject may be found in the above-named works, and also in the 

 Pharmacographia Indica (Hi., 348-55), Yule and Burnell (Anglo-Ind. Gloss., 

 Hobson-Jobson, 952-9), and the Kew Bulletins for February, October and 

 November, 1891. The tree exudes a white RESIN used for poisoning arrows. 

 I.owin, Die Pfeilgifte, 1894, pt. iii., 301, etc.] The inner bark gives a 

 FIIIKE which makes strong cordage. The Natives strip the bark into large 

 pieces, soak them in water and beat them to obtain the white fibre. In Western 

 India the tree is known as the " Sacking-tree," because the tough bark is stripped 

 off whole from branches or young trees to form rice-sacks, a section of the stem 

 being left to serve as a bottom to each sack. The seeds are said to be used in 



71 



D.E.P., 



* 2e8 ~ 9 - 

 Tree. 



Resin. 



Fibre. 



Sacking-tree. 



