CHRYSANTHEMUM 



CORONARIUM 



D.E.P., CHICKRASSIA TABULARIS, Adr. Juss. ; Fl. Br. Ind., i., 



ii., 268-9. 568 ; Gamble, Man. Ind.. Timbs, 156-7 ; Talbot, List Trees, etc., 1902, 

 Chittagong 80 ; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb., i., 1903, 216-7 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 144 ; 

 Wood. MELIACE.E. 



The Chittagong Wood or White Cedar, chikrassi, lal-devddr, saiphra, sai- 



propaon, pabba, aglay, agil, dalmara, yinma, etc. A beautiful tree met with in 



the tropical forests from Sikkim to Chittagong and Burma, and from the Konkan 



and Deccan to Mysore, Malabar and Ceylon. 

 Timber. It yields a beautiful yellowish-brown, richly veined satiny TIMBER, suitable 



for furniture, piano-cases, tables, etc. Gamble remarks that it deserves to be 



better known and exported from convenient localities like Chittagong, where 

 Gum. it chances to be plentiful. It also yields a transparent yellow GUM, an astringent 



Dye. BARK (used medicinally), and flowers that afford both a red and yellow DYE. 



\Cf. Pharmcog. Ind., 1890, i., 339 ; R.E.P., Circ. Letter, 1894-5, No. 25 ; Prog. 



E.E.P. Office, 1894-5, 1896-7, 1897-8, 1900-1 ; Seta. Oper. Sagaing, 1893- 



1900, 48.] 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 270-1. 

 Satin- 

 wood. 



Uses. 



Timber. 



Brush-backs. 



Gum. 

 Dye. 

 Oil. 



Fodder. 



CHLOROXYLON SWIETENIA, DC. ; Fl. Br. Ind., i., 569 ; 

 Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 160-2 ; Talbot, List Trees, etc., 81 ; Cooke, 

 Fl. Pres. Bomb., i., 1903, 217-8 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 146 ; MELIACE.E. 



The Satin-wood, bhera, bhira, billa, bella, billu, bilgu, madula, sengel, jirhal, 

 soli, hurgalu, Jialda, etc. A moderate-sized tree of Central and South India, 

 also Ceylon. Is met with in the dry forests of the Circars, Konkan, Deccan 

 and Karnatak, especially on poor soils, such as sand and laterite ; common on 

 the Satpuras and the sandstone formations of Kaladgi and Belgaum. Its 

 most useful product is its TIMBER, the Satin-wood of commerce, which is largely 

 exported from Ceylon and S. India (" Tamil Satin-wood "). It is in much 

 demand for cabinet-work, the backs of brushes, picture frames, turnery (makes 

 good stethoscopes), furniture, etc., and locally is utilised in house-building, 

 carts and agricultural implements, but is not a good firewood, as it smokes 

 too much. The tree also yields an amber-coloured GUM (of which little is 

 known), a DYE, a wood-OiL and an astringent BARK, sometimes used medicinally, 

 as also a paste made from the roots. Trees often destroyed on account of 

 leaves being given as FODDER. [Cf. Forsyth, Highlands Cent. Ind., 464 : Pharma- 

 cog. Ind., 1890, i., 338-9 ; Basu, Agri. Lohardaga, 134 ; Biscoe, List Hyderabad 

 Trees, 1895, 5; Ind. For., 1897, xxiii., 52; 1899, 181; Cat. des PI. Econ. 

 Colon, " L'Hort. Colon.," Brussels, 1900, 52 ; Wiesner, Die Eohst. des Pflanzenr., ii., 

 953 ; Imp. Inst. Tech. Repts., 1903, 248.] 



D.E.P., 

 ii., 272. 

 Babir. 



Pot-herb. 



Eaten in 

 Formosa. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM CORONARIUM, Liun. ; Fl. Br. Ind., 

 iii., 314 ; Buchanan-Hamilton, Stat. Ace. Dinaj., 195 ; Pharmcog. Ind., 

 ii., 276-7 ; Agri. Deft. Assam Bull, 1896, No. 2 ; Ind. Pharmacol, 1897, 

 20-2 ; COMPOSITE. 



This cultivated little herb is of interest mainly because of the fact that 

 from Dinaj pur and Rangpur in Bengal, north-east to Assam, it is extensively 

 eaten, and is number 15 in Buchanan-Hamilton's list of sags or pot-herbs. This 

 fact seems to have escaped observation until re-discovered by myself while 

 investigating the areas of successful cultivation of ita-hnterin niuea China- 

 grass. In my report on that subject, published in The Agricultural Ledger (1898, 

 No. 15, 517-8), I pointed out that plants of the pea family become scarce, but 

 that a peculiar series of pot-herbs take their places. Among these c. <- 

 ,u, ,in >,, was found to hold a foremost position, being known as babir in North 

 Bengal, babui in Assam, and jalyniar in the Khasia hills. It may now be 

 added that after an inspection of the collections preserved in the Royal Herba- 

 rium, Kew, I am able to add that only one collector would appear to have pre- 

 viously recorded the observation of this plant being eaten. Speaking of Formosa, 

 Walters calls it tan-ei-tsai and adds that it is a " herb much used by the Chinese 

 as an article of food." Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., 1892, pt. ii., 76) makes mention 

 of two species of CHrynnntimmum as known to the Chinese classics, the 

 leaves of one of which are boiled into soup. This would appear to be called 

 ts'iu hua ku, but in another part Bretschneider adds that he does not know 



294 



