122 UET1CACEM. [ TREMA- 



polygamous, in small axillary cymes. Perianth simple. MALE 

 flowers. Sepals 4 or 5, induplicate-valvate or subimbricate. Sta- 

 mens 4 or 5, erect in bud. Pistillode small or none. FEM. flowers. 

 Sepals as in male when stamens are present, flat and subimbricate 

 in the absence of stamens. Ovary sessile ; style central, with 2 

 linear arms, ovule pendulous. Fruit a small straight ovoid or 

 subglobose drupe, usually tipped by the style, endocarp harci 

 Seed small, testa membranous, albumen fleshy, cotyledons narrow, 

 radicle ascending. Species about 20, in tropical and sub-tropical 

 regions of the world. 



Leaves distinctly unequal at the base, softly 



pubescent beneath . . . . . 1. T . orientalis. 



Leaves almost equal at base, very scabrid on 



both surfaces . . . . . 2. T . politoria. 



1. T. orientalis, Blume Mus Bot. ii, 62 : F. B. L V., 484 ; 

 Watt, E. D., Kanjilal For. FL (ed. 2), 361 ; Gamble Man. 630 ; 

 Prain Beng. PL 960 ; Cooke FL Bomb, ii, 631 ; Brandis Ind. Trees 

 597. Sponia orientalis. Planck. ; Royle III. 341 ; Brandis 

 For. FL 430. Celtis orientalis, Linn, ; Roxb. FL Ind. II, 65 ; 

 Indian Nettle-tree or Charcoal-tree. 



A small quick-growing short- lived evergreen tree ; bark thin, dark-grejf, 

 with many lenticels. Branches spreading, straight ; branchlets 

 hairy. Leaves 2-3 in. long, obliquely ovate, acuminate, crenate- 

 serrulate, rather rough on the upper surface, soft beneath with white 

 pubescence ; base unequally rounded or subcordate, 3-nerved > 

 lateral nerves above the basal ones 3-4 pairs ; petioles J-| in. ; stipules 

 as long as the young petioles, deciduous. Cymes lax, spreading, 

 pubes cent, usually exceeding the petioles. MALE FLOWERS : Sepals 

 elliptic -lanceolate. Stamens 5, longer than the sepals. Pistillode 

 small. FEM. FLOW^ERS : Sepals as in the male. Drupe ovoid, J- in. 

 in diam., glabrous, black when ripe. 



Dehra Dun, usually in swampy ground and eastwards along the Sub- 

 Himalayan forest tracts of N. Oudh and Gorakhpur. Flowers 

 during the greater part of the year. DISTRIB. : More or less through- 

 out India, extending to Ceylon, the Malay Islands and China. This 

 tree is remarkable for its sudden appearance in clearings of moist 

 forest ; it is also very useful for planting on landslips. The wood 

 produces a good charcoal suitable for making gunpowder, and the 

 inner bark yields a strong fibre much used for binding loads. 



