Acacia.] XXXI. LEGUMINOSiE. 181 



shining brown points. Pinna3 generally 3-6 pair ; common petiole 1-2 in. 

 long, cup- shaped glands at the base of the lowest, and generally also of the 

 uppermost pair; leaflets linear, 10-20 pair. Peduncles slender, 3-5, fasci- 

 culate, with 2 opposite scaly bracts in the middle of the peduncle. Flowers 

 golden yellow, in globose heads. Corolla campanulate. Pod stalked, com- 

 pressed, 6 in. long, moniliform, much contracted at both sutures between 

 the seeds, whitish-tomentose, rarely glabrous. 



Cultivated or self-sown throughout the greater part of India, save in the most 

 humid regions on the coast, and in the extreme North-West, beyond the Jhelam, 

 where the winter-frost is too severe. Stunted trees are occasionally found as 

 high as 3000-4000 ft. in the North- West Himalaya. In Sindh, near Delhi, in 

 the Ghunna forest near Bhartpur, in Guzerat, and the Koruns of the Northern 

 Dekkan, the tree forms extensive and generally pure forests ; the pure Babul 

 forests of Lower and Middle Sindh cover upwards of 27,000 acres. In North 

 Sindh, Babul trees are found in small numbers as standards over underwood 

 of Tamarisk. The tree is probably indigenous in Sindh, and perhaps also in 

 the Northern Dekkan. In the Panjab it is not indigenous. Outside India it 

 is found in Africa, Arabia (A. nilotica,De\. Boiss. Fl. Or. ii. 635), with glabrous 

 pods, and (cultivated) in Persia and Afghanistan. The tree is never leafless ; 

 the young foliage comes out in Feb. and April. Fl. July-Sept. (Panjab). 



Attains 50-60 ft., with a short, not very straight or regularly shaped trunk 10- 

 15 ft. long, and 5-6 ft. girth, attaining 10-12 ft. under favourable conditions, the 

 largest girth recorded being 16^ ft. near Multan (Edge worth). Branches spread- 

 ing, forming a fine broad shady crown. Bark thick, dark brown, nearly black, 

 with deep narrow, regular longitudinal fissures, joined by short cross-cracks. 

 Inner bark reddish brown, very fibrous. The sapwood is large, and generally 

 occupies the fifth or sixth part of the radius ; it is whitish, coarse-grained, and 

 soft. The heartwood is pale red, nearly colourless when fresh-cut, but on expo- 

 sure to the air turns red or dark reddish brown, often with blackish streaks. 

 Pores numerous, uniformly distributed, generally surrounded by a small rounded 

 patch of lighter-coloured tissue, often close together in the inner belt of each 

 annual ring, the outer belt having fewer pores, and appearing on that account of 

 a darker colour. Medullary rays numerous ; on a longitudinal section the pores 

 and the shining plates or bands of the medullary rays are very prominent. The 

 green wood weighs between 69 and 72 lb. (Stewart), the weight of seasoned wood 

 in the Panjab is 48 (Stewart), in Gwalior 53.7 (Cunningham), and Skinner gives 

 the average (for wood from South India) at 54 lb. The value of P. is 884 (Skin- 

 ner) and 875, extremes 743 and 1201 (Cunningham). The wood is tough and 

 close-grained, very durable if water-seasoned. It is used extensively for naves, 

 spokes, and fellies of wheels, for wellrcurbs, sugar-rollers, oil-presses, and rice- 

 pounders, agricultural implements, mallets, axe -handles, and tent-pegs. In 

 Sindh it is much employed in boat-building, particularly for knees and crooked 

 timbers. For construction it is rarely possible to get pieces sufficiently long, 

 but in Sindh it is often used for rafters. It is also used for railway- sleepers. 

 It is an excellent fuel, and has greater heating powers than either Prosopis 

 spicigera or the Tamarisk. 



A gum, similar to gum-arabic, exudes in large quantities from wounds in the 

 bark ; it is collected and used in native medicine, by dyers and cloth-printers, 

 and with the gum of other trees it forms part of the East Indian gum-arabic. 

 In Sindh and Guzerat much Lakh is produced on the tree, particularly on the 

 small half-dry branches. When once the insect attacks a tree, it spreads 

 rapidly, killing the small branches as it proceeds, and it is said that it would 

 kill the tree were not the twigs cut off with the Lakh. Good crops of Lakh, 



