GARCINIA 



COWA 



Cultivation. 



Chemistry. 



Medicine. 



Trade. 



THE GAMBOGE VAKNISH 



Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb., i., 572-3 ; Firminger, Man. Gard. Ind. (ed. 

 Cameron), 166 ; UMBELLIFER^E. The Fennel, saunf, bari saunf, sonp, 

 mauri, pan-muhori, bari-shopha, variari, badishep, badisopu, azpa, badyan, 

 sohikire, shombu, pedda-jila-kurra, sa-meit, madhurikd. A perennial which 

 attains a height of 5 to 6 feet, commonly cultivated throughout India, at 

 all altitudes up to 6,000 feet, and also found wild. 



This plant seems to be grown only in small patches, on homestead lands, 

 as a cold-weather crop. Firminger informs us that it thrives well in Bengal, 

 and where once grown will come up each cold season afterwards, from self- 

 sown seed. The seeds should be sown in October on the plains, and in March 

 and April on the hills. Of the United Provinces, Duthie and Fuller inti- 

 mate that fennel is extensively cultivated during the cold season in garden 

 patches. In Bombay, the chief localities are Khandesh and Gujarat, but it is 

 also grown in the Deccan. 



Fennel fruit yields about 3 per cent, of volatile oil, which consists of 

 anethol or anise camphor and variable proportions of a liquid isomeric with 

 oil of turpentine. The oil is used in Europe in the manufacture of cordials 

 and enters into the composition of fennel water, which is known in India as 

 muhori-ka-arak or arak bddian. [Cf. Thorpe, Diet. Appl. Chem., 1900, iii., 12 ; 

 Schimmel & Co., Semi-Ann. Kept., Oct.-Nov. 1897, 27-8; Oct.-Nov. 1902, 42-3.] 

 The fruits and oil are stimulant, aromatic and carminative, used largely 

 as flavouring agents to medicines. The root is purgative and the leaves 

 diuretic. [Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., ii., 1890, 124-7 ; Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 1900, 

 174; White and Humphrey, Pharmacop., 1904, 203.] 



The exports are not very important. During the five years ending 1903-4 

 they ranged from 3,355 cwt., valued at Rs. 29,277, to 14,085 cwt., valued at 

 Rs. 1,16,370, but have since declined to 10,974 cwt., valued at Rs. 1,09,735 in 

 19067. Ceylon is usually the most important receiving country, though during 

 1903-4 and 1904-5 the United Kingdom took the largest amounts, viz. 5,396 cwt. 

 and 10,521 cwt., but in 1906-7 took only 522 cwt. Outside the British Empire, 

 Germany is the only country that need be mentioned. In 1903-4 it took 1,424 cwt., 

 and in 1906-7, 2,272 cwt. Practically the whole of the exports go from Bombay. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 464-79. 



Gum. 



Yellow 



Varnish. 



Oil. 



Edible Fruit. 



Timber. 



GARCINIA, Linn. ; Fl Br. Ind., i., 259-70 ; Roxb., Fl It 

 ii., 618-30 ; Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 49-55 ; Cooke, Gums, Resins, 

 etc., Ind., 1874 ; GUTTIFER^;. A large genus of evergreen trees of the 

 tropics, none of the species extending to the Panjab or the United Pro- 

 vinces, and few even to the North-East Himalaya. There are thirty-six 

 species, most of which contain a yellow juice, which generally gives a 

 more or less useful pigment the grades of Gamboge. 



G. Gambogia, Desr. Talbot, List Trees, etc., 1902, 27 ; Cooke, Fl. Pres. 

 Bomb., 1903, i., 77 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 51. The hila, aradal, manthulli, pona- 

 puli, upagi mara, dharamhe, ghorkpulli, gorakkapulli, goraka, etc. A small 

 evergreen tree of the western coast and Ceylon, ascending to 6,000 feet on the 

 Nilgiris. It is said to yield a yellow, very adhesive GUM, which is valueless 

 as a pigment because insoluble in water. It is, however, soluble in spirits of 

 turpentine, and thus forms a beautiful yellow VARNISH. It also gives an OIL 

 used in medicine. The FRUIT is edible and of a pleasant acid taste. It ripens 

 during the rainy season. The rind of the fruit is employed as a condiment 

 and eaten with fish as a substitute for tamarind. The WOOD is grey, sometimes 

 patched with red, smooth and close-grained. Beddome remarks that it would 

 be useful for common furniture. [Madras Weekly Mail, May 16, 1901.] 



G. Cowa, Roxb. ; Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., 1893-1902, i., 56 ; 1903, ii., 82 ; 

 Prain, Beng. Plants, 1903, i., 247 ; Firminger, Man. Gard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 

 1904, 289 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 52. A tall evergreen tree with a round stem. 

 It occurs in Bengal, Assam, Chittagong, Burma and the Andaman Islands. 

 In Bengal it is the cowa, and in Burma the taungthale, ma-dow. It produces 



552 



