( 56 ) 



being quite rotten. On exposure the timber changes to a 

 darker colour with irregular streaks of black, often giving a 

 pattern to the transverse section similar to what has been 

 noted in D. ovalifolia. (See pi. II., 8). 



The discolouration is often due to a change in the colour 

 of the cell walls only. The relative scarcity of gum-resin 

 and the abundance of parenchymatous cells, particularly of 

 the medullary ray, necessarily make the timber very inferior 

 in quality. 



The rings of growth are inconspicuous. 



Distribution. This is our rarest species of Diospyros and 

 up to the present has only been found on the upper part of 

 the Haycock mountain, or Hinidumkanda, between 1,500- 

 2,000 feet. The climate there prevailing is unique, the upper- 

 part being, more often than not, capped with mist, and 

 arborescent vegetation is of a stunted xerophytic type. 

 There are not more than 40 or 50 trees of this species and 

 these occur mixed with trees of calamander. The character 

 of the erect trunk with its black bark is very similar to that 

 of calamander trees, and the fact of their being so freely 

 mixed with trees of calamander is probably the source of 

 the error regarding the value of the timber. This species 

 should grow well on the steep rocky hill sides in the Peak 

 Wilderness, where the rainfall is high. 



Diospyros Thwaitesii, Bedd. Ic. PL, Ind. Or. 27 (1874). 



Kadumberiya, S. 



Hiern, Mon. .Eben. 164. C. P. 3394. Fl. B. Ind. III., 566. 

 Bedd. Ic. PI. Ind. Or. t. 135 



A small or medium-sized tree, 300-1,500 mm. in circum- 

 ference, and attaining a height of 18 metres (60 feet), 

 evergreen, dio3cious,moncecious, and polygamous ; bark black, 

 slightly rougher than D. hirsuta, with longitudinal fissures 2 

 mm. deep and 4 mm. wide ; bark 3 mm. thick in tree 1 ]0 mm. 

 diameter, young twigs covered with brown hairs becoming 

 green and glabrous. Leaves alternate,, 80-120 mm. long, 

 20-40 inm. wide, ovate-lanceolate, tapering towards apex : 



