Garuga.] XX. BURSERACE^E. 63 



N.W.P.; Ghocjar, kaikar, Oudh; Kankar, kakar, kaikra, ghunja, ghurri, 

 maharut, C.P. ; Chinyuk, Burm. 



Leaves approximate near the ends of branches, 6-12 in. long; leaflets 

 6-9 pairs, opposite or nearly so, nearly sessile, lanceolate or ovate-lanceo- 

 late, eremite, acuminate, glabrous or tomentose. Flowers yellow, in spread- 

 ing panicles, several at the ends of branches ; branches of inflorescence, 

 pedicels, and calyx tomentose; bracts linear, deciduous. Calyx 10-ribbed. 

 Filaments, ovary, and style hairy ; stigma 5-lobed. Drupe fleshy, smooth, 

 about the size of a nutmeg ; nuts generally two, tuberculated outside. 



Dry forests in the hilly regions of the greater part of Central and South India 

 and Burma. At the foot of the Himalaya, and in the outer valleys (ascending 

 to 3500 ft.) from the Jumna to Assam, often in Sal forests ; in North-West India 

 frequently associated with Odina Wodier, which it resembles when leafless. 

 Leafless during the greater part of the dry season. The fresh foliage generally 

 appears in April or May, with the flowers or after them. The fruit ripens about 

 June and July. Oval, smooth, brown galls on petioles not uncommon in No- 

 vember. Stakes of branches planted during the rains grow readily. 



Under favourable circumstances a large tree, 50-60 ft. high, with an erect, 

 straight trunk, 15-20 ft. long and 5-6 ft. in girth. Branchlets with conspicuous 

 marks of lapsed petioles. Bark of trunk thick, light grey or brown, furrowed 

 by shallow longitudinal wrinkles ; outer layers getting black, and exfoliating 

 in broad, irregularly angular flakes. Inner bark reddish brown. Sap- 

 wood large, whitish ; heartwood dark reddish-brown, mottled, even- but rather 

 open-grained, 52 lb. per cub. ft. (Chinyuk from Burma.) I am inclined to 

 think that the wood of Garuga pinnata is often light-coloured and of less weight. 

 Seasons well, durability doubtful, readily attacked by insects. Not much used 

 for construction, but employed for indoor work, and as fuel. Has been recom- 

 mended for cabinet-work. Bark employed for tanning ; a gum exudes from* it. 

 The fruit is eaten, raw and pickled. Shoots and leaves are lopped as fodder, 

 whence the name Kharpat. 



3. BALSAMODENDRON, Kunth. 



Small trees or shrubs, yielding aromatic resin ; branches often thorny. 

 Leaves alternate or crowded at the end of short branches, imparipinnate 

 or 1-3-foliolate. Flowers polygamous. Calyx tubular, campanulate, or ur- 

 ceolate, 4-cleft, persistent. Petals 4, erect or with recurved tips, inserted 

 at the bottom of calyx. Stamens 8, inserted on or outside the margin of 

 a cup-shaped disc. Ovary sessile, 2-3-celled, narrowed into a short thick 

 style; ovules geminate, collateral, pendulous. Fruit a drupe, the rind or 

 epicarp frequently splitting more or less irregularly into 2-4 valves, leav- 

 ing exposed the pulp or mesocarp, which encloses the nut. Nuts 1-3, with 

 bony endocarp, either separate or more or less connate. Seed without 

 albumen, one in each nut ; testa membranous ; embryo straight, the 

 radicle pointing upwards ; cotyledons thin, crumpled and plaited. 



Most species of this genus inhabit Arabia and Eastern Africa, and several of 

 these yield the Myrrh of commerce. Some of the Indian species also yield a 

 fragrant gum-resin, which is an article of trade, under the name of Gugal, gugul, 

 guggur {mukul, Arab.), which is believed to be the Bdellium of classic writers, 

 and which most likely furnishes part of the Myrrh which is exported from 

 Bombay. They are not important as forest-trees, in the sense in which this 

 word is generally accepted, but they merit attention as forming part of the 



