THK MALI FIBRE 



BAUHINIA 



VARIEOATA 



IIUll 



the . 





.!. Himalayan tract from the Indus eastward, also o| Central and South 

 India and Hurma. 



JJ. racemosa, / The kachndl, banraj, kaimu, katmanli, areka. art, atotri, aupta, 

 n, etc. a small crooked tree met with in the Sub-Himalayan tract from 

 Kavi . .: :u.u I . in Dndli. M'M.-.i!, I inrma, and Central and South India. 

 B. retusa, //<>' Tho kunit, knmiln, laba, etc. a moderate-sized deciduous tree 

 ..i the N.\\ . Himalaya from the Beas eastward, to Simla, Garhwal, Ktimaon 

 and Cent nil India. 



B. toraentosa. Linn. Tho kavhndr, aaundro, chdmol, etc. an erect shrub met with 

 in the L'. Provinces, and throughout India to Ceylon and Penang. 



B. Vahlil, W. A A. Themolghdn, chfhur, aihdr, borla, rungung rik, jom, lama, 

 inaulan, etc. one of the most useful of Indian climbing Bauhinias. 

 untl all along the lower Himalaya from the Chenab eastward, in \. and 

 . India and Tenasserim. [Cf. Hooper, Kept. Labor. Ind. Mus., 1904 5, 28.] 



B. variegata, Linn. Tho kachndr, koliar, rakta kdnchan, kurmang, singya, kundol, 

 tuki, kovidara, bwechin, etc. a moderate-sized deciduous tree found in the Sub- 

 Himalayan tract from the Indus eastward and throughout the forests of India 

 and Burma. It is largely cultivated in the plains as an ornamental tree. 



Most of the species yield a GUM which seems to be known by a generic name, Gum. 



It is as a rule too little soluble in water to be of great value. 

 t from ft. fi-tnmt (semla gdnd) is very like gum arabic. It is eaten by the 

 re r classes and is used to waterproof terraced roofs, and also medicinally 

 an external application to sores. By some Native practitioners it is re- 

 rded as emmenagogue and diuretic. In the report by Dunstan, republished 

 The Agricultural Ledger (1900, No. 12), it is pointed out that the gum absorbs 

 more than twice its own weight of water, and that a 10 per cent, solution yielded 

 a thick mucilage which could not be manipulated. Several firms of brokers were 

 asked to report on the gum. The estimated value was from 10s. to 20s. per cwt. 

 They did not consider the gum of any commercial importance. It must, there- 

 ire, be regarded as mainly of local interest. The export from Dehra Dun 

 lounts to about 2,500 rnaunds per annum, and the local valuation is about 

 . 1-8 to Rs. 2-8 per maund. 

 Several species are reported to yield OILS, e.g. ft. rniJnf, B. 



;., but information as to their economic vise (if any) is wanting. The bark 

 i<nr<- is used in DYEING and TANNING and that of B. -r>ii 



Oils. 



Dyes and Tans. 



optn 







of . 



in dyeing. The latter produces at first a dirty red colour, but the dyed 

 article having been worked up in mud for some hours subsequently appears 

 black or nearly black (Note by Conservator For., E. Circ. Burma, 1896). 

 it, IK hi i> in is, however, principally noted for the FIBKES afforded by one or two Fibres, 

 species. A cordage, strong but not durable in water, is made from the inner 

 k of it. mt'ftnuMtt. According to Dodge, this being very tough has been 

 ployed in India in the construction of certain bridges across the Jumna. The 

 stems are usually cut in July or August. Concerning the strong cordage prepared 

 from the bark of it. t'niiin. a full account is given in the Dictionary (I.e. 424) 

 and need not be repeated here. It is a very important article with the hill 

 tribes. The malu fibre is one of the few that will stand to be dyed, bleached 

 and worked up along with wool (Watt, Res. of Brit. Ind., 1894, 15). In certain 

 districts ropes are made from it in two ways. Either real fibres of the branches 

 are extracted and twisted into ropes or the branches are simply split up and 

 used as natural ropes. They are known in the Panjab as uddla and are ex- 

 tensively employed for tying slates and thatch on to roofs (Gee, Monog. Fibrous 

 Manuf. Pb., 1889-90, 5). The shoots are said to grow as much as 50 feet long 

 in one year. 



Whilst it may be said that most of the species enumerated above are used Medicine, 

 in some way in Native MEDICINE, almost every part of . rarirgata is so 

 used. The bark, flowers, and root are triturated in rice-water for use as a 

 cataplasm. A decoction of the root is given in dyspepsia, the flowers are taken 

 with sugar as a laxative, and the bark is regarded as tonic and anthelmintic. 

 The medicinal use of the gum of ft. rftiina has already been mentioned. 

 . ffiiii-uf.s<f is said to be antidysenteric and to be useful in liver-complaints. 

 The leaves of . t'tihiu are demulcent and the seeds tonic and aphrodisiac. 

 The acrid leaves of it. m 1,1 1,,, ,-ir<i are used as FOOD in Burma and Bombay, Pood and 

 and elsewhere the young shoots are eaten as a vegetable. The flowers Fod der - 

 of . inirimi-i-ti are used in curries as a pot-herb or arte pickled. The leaves 

 form a cattle-FoDDEB. The buds and seeds of B. <!<<> i are eaten by 



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