70 LOGANIACEJE. [STBYCHNO&. 



ripe. Seeds many, -|-f in. in diam., flat, grey, shining, clothed on "both 

 sides with fine silky hairs radiating from the centre. 



Gorakhpur forests (Brandis, Duthie). DISTRIB. From Bengal and 

 Bombay to S. India, extending to the drier region of Ceylon ; also in 

 deciduous forests throughout Burma. Flowers February April. The 

 tree is leafless for a short time during the hot season. Almost every 

 part of this tree is more or less poisonous, but especially the seeds, 

 which yield the alkaloids known as strychnine and brucine. The pulp 

 of the fruit, although containing strychnine, is largely eaten by certain 

 birds, as well as by monkeys and other animals. The wood is extremely 

 bitter, and is sometimes used as a remedy for intermittent fever. As a 

 timber it is chiefly useful for fancy cabinet, work and agricultural im- 

 plements, 



2. S. potatorum, Linn. f. 8uypl. 148 ; Roscl. Fl. Ind. i, 576. ; PoyJe III 

 272 ; Brandis For. FL 817 ; Ind. Trees 474: F. P. I. iv. ; Woit'E. D. ; 

 Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 498 ; Prain Seng. PI. 704; CoolceFl.Scnib.ii, 

 186, Vern. Nirmali. (The Clearing-nut tree.) 



A medium-sized glabrous tree, 40-50 ft. high. Trunk often irregularly 

 fluted. Bark blackish, deeply furrowed. Leaves nearly sessile, 2-3 in. 

 long, ovate or elliptic, acute or rounded at the base, the apex acute or 

 acuminate, subcoriaceous. glabrous and shining, spuriously 3- or 5- 

 nerved. Flowers white, fragrant, in short axillary cymes, pedicels very 

 short. Calyx -^ in. long; lobes 5, ovate, acute. Corolla -i in. long j 

 lobes 5, oblong, acute, hairy inside at their bases. Ovary ovoid, glab- 

 rous, tapering into the sJender style, stigma slightly 2-lobed. Berry 

 about f in. in diam., black when ripe, Seeds 1 or 2, circular, ^ in. in 

 diam., bluntly lenticular, slightly compressed, clothed on both sides 

 with short silvery adpressed hairs. 



Bundelkhand forests (Edgeworth, Duthie). DISTEIB. Bengal, Cent, 

 and S. India to Ceylon, also in Burma. Flowers during April and 

 May. This tree, unlike the preceding, is not poisonous. The pulp of 

 the fruit is eaten by the natives ; and the seeds, known as ' clearing- 

 nuts,' are much used for cleansing muddy water, the albumen acting as a 

 precipitant of -the suspended impurities. The seeds are also made use 

 of in diseases of the eye. The wood is said to be good for ploughs,, 

 building purposes, etc. 



XXIV.-GENTIANACE.tfI. 



Herbs, usually glabrous and bitter, rarely f-hrubs. Leaves opposite, 

 rarely alternate, entire (often sinuate in Limnantliem'um\ exstipu- 

 late. Flowers usually regular (except in Cansc^ra and Eoppea), 

 arranged in terminal spicate or fascicled cynics, or axillary and 



