Melia.] XXI. meliacea:. 69 



3. M. composita, Willd. ; W. & A. Prodr. 117 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 12. 

 Syn. M. superba, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 396 ; M. robusta, Eoxb. 1. c. ii. 397. 

 Vern. Elsur, limbarra, nimbarra, Bomb. 



A large and handsome tree of rapid growth, with a smooth, dark brown 

 bark, and large, bi- or tri-pinnate leaves ; pinnae 3-7-foliolate ; leaflets entire 

 or crenate. Flowers white, fragrant. Young leaves, inflorescence, calyx, and 

 petals densely covered with a mealy stellate pubescence. Staminal tube less 

 than \ in. long, villous with long white hairs ; anthers inserted below the 

 edge of the staminal column, which is divided into numerous small subu- 

 late teeth, shorter than the anthers. Drupes ovoid, of the size of a large 

 olive, with a thick hard long putamen, 5-celled, or by abortion with 

 fewer cells. The figure in Beddome's ' Flora Sylvatica' shows the anthers 

 alternating with an equal number of teeth of the staminal tube. This I 

 am unable to verify. 



"Western coast and Western Ghats. Burma, Malay peninsula. Indian Archi- 

 pelago. Cultivated in gardens. Fl. Feb., April. ; fr. Dec, Jan. Benth., Fl. 

 Austr. i. 380, refers an Australian tree (Queensland, North Australia, New South 

 Wales) to this species, and thinks that it scarcely differs from M. Azedarach. 



2. AMOOBA, Eoxb. 



Trees with imparipinnate leaves, and polygamous flowers, in spikes 

 racemes or panicles. Calyx cup-shaped, or sepals distinct, 3-5. Petals 

 3-5, thick, concave, imbricate in bud. Staminal tube globose or campanu- 

 late; anthers 6-10, sessile on the inside of the tube. Disc 0. Ovary 

 3-5-celled, ovules 1 or 2 in each cell. Capsule 3-4-celled; cells 1- 

 seeded. Seeds exalbuminous, with a fleshy arillus. 



1. A. Rohituka, W. & A. Prodr. 119; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 132. Syn. 

 Andersonia Rohituka, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 213. Sans. Rohitaka. Vern. 

 Sohaga, Oudh ; Harin harm, or Harin khana, Hind. ; Tikta-raj, Beng. 



Leaves coriaceous, glabrous, varying to 2 ft. long ; leaflets opposite, in 

 2-8 pairs, shortly petiolulate, ovate-lanceolate from unequal base, acuminate, 

 entire. Flowers in spikes, small, white, nearly sessile, subtended by 

 minute bracts ; male spikes paniculate ; bisexual spikes solitary or twin, 

 supra-axillary. Calyx coriaceous, deeply cleft into 5 round obtuse lobes. 

 Petals 3. Staminal tube globular, fleshy, white ; anthers 6, attached 

 half-way up the tube. Ovary 3-celled ; stigma sessile, 3-lobed. Capsule 

 pale yellow, soft and fleshy, obovoid, globose, or pyriform, 1 in. long, 

 3-celled, opening longitudinally by 3 valves from apex. Seeds solitary, 

 with a chestnut-coloured, smooth, shining testa, surrounded by a scarlet 

 arillus. 



Oudh (only in moist ravines of the central and eastern part of the Gonda 

 forests), Assam, Eastern Bengal, South India, along and near the "Western 

 Ghats. Ceylon. Evergreen ; fl. in July, August ; fruit ripens in the cold 

 season. A moderate-sized tree, 30 ft. high, with a short, erect, straight trunk 

 to 4 ft. in girth, with a close, shady, rounded head, somewhat resembling Gedrela 

 Toona in general appearance. Bark thick, wood reddish brown, medullary rays 

 very numerous, fine, pores large. In Bengal, oil is extracted from the seeds. 



