226 XXXVI. COMBRETACE.E. [Termi? 



and along the foot of the Ghats, in the contiguous portion of the Ratnagiri dis- 

 trict, as far as there is any forest vegetation left, a similar system of cultivation 

 prevails, and a large portion of the pollards are of Terminalia paniculata, in 

 addition to the other trees mentioned. 



T. tomentosa does not generally lose its leaves until Feb. March or April, 

 but is one of the latest trees in the dry forest to come out in fresh leaf. Thus 

 on the 1st May 1870, in the Sattara district, Ain, Dhaura, and Moi (Odina 

 Wodier) were quite bare, whereas JDopdli (Boswellia thurifera), Dhamun 

 {Grewia vestita), Lendia {Lagerstroemia parvifiora), Kumbi {Carey a arbor -ed), 

 Dhaivan (Gordia Macleodii), were in full leaf or coming into leaf. 



Attains 80-100 ft., trunk straight, symmetrical, 40-50 ft. clear to the first 

 branch, 8-10 ft. girth. In Burma the tree attains much larger size 80 ft. to 

 the first branch, and a girth of 12 ft., being the average size of full-grown trees 

 on good soil. A small knotty tree when kept down by lopping. Bark 1-2 in. 

 thick, dark grey, nearly black, irregularly tesselated by deep and wide longi- 

 tudinal furrows, and smaller transverse cracks, thick quadrangular plates 

 exfoliating. Inner bark red. Sapwood whitish or yellow. Heartwood dark 

 brown, mottled with darker streaks, often nearly black, hard. Medullary 

 rays numerous, very fine. Pores small, surrounded by irregular, narrow, 

 more or less concentrically arranged lines of whitish patches. The cub. ft. of 

 seasoned wood weighs 60 lb. on an average, the extremes ranging between 50 

 and 70 lb. There is no difference in weight between the Burma and Indian 

 wood. The green wood weighs between 70 and 80 lb. per cub. ft. The mean 

 value of P. is given by Skinner at 860, which is a fair average of the numerous 

 experiments made with this wood by different authors and in different parts of 

 India the extremes being 591 and 1104. Baker's figures alone range consid- 

 erably lower ; 4 experiments made with Assan from the Jainaghar (Jynaghur) 

 timber agency, weighing 61.6 lb. on an average, gave the mean value of P. 

 at 677. But Puckle's experiments with Matti wood from Mysore (weight 55.75 

 lb.) gave an average of 1010 ; and my experiments in 1864 with Taukkyan 

 wood from Burma (weight 56.43) gave a mean value of 903. It is for further 

 inquiry whether the wood of this tree from North India has less transverse 

 strength than that from Burma and the South. The wood does not season 

 readily, and is apt to warp and crack ; its grain is coarse and curly, and it is 

 not easily worked. Its durability is most uncertain. In Burma the heartwood 

 decays rapidly ; in North India beams and kurries are at times found to last 

 well, and at other times they perish from dry-rot and are eaten by insects. It 

 is used largely in North and Central India for house-building, for carts, rice- 

 pounders, ship- and boat-building. It is an excellent fuel, yielding a powerful 

 heat, and furnishing good charcoal. Potash is in places made of it. The bark 

 is used for tanning, and the ashes of the bark are chewed with the Betel-leaf. 

 The common Tasar (tussah) silkworm feeds on the leaves, and the tree is on 

 that account pollarded (where not protected) all over the Satpura forests. Lakh 

 is occasionally gathered on the branches, and in Oudh and the North- West 

 Provinces the leaves are lopped for cattle-fodder. The flowers are often attacked 

 by a cynips, producing numerous small peppercorn-like galls on the flower- 

 stalks, which are persistent and remain a long time on the tree, in the place of 

 the fruit which is not formed. 



5. T. paniculata, W. & A. Prodr. 315 ; Bedd. FL Sylv. t. 20. Syn. 

 Pentaptera paniculata, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 442. Yern. Kinjal, ki?idal, 

 Konkan; Honal, Canara. 



A large tree, nearly glabrous ; inflorescence, bracts, and ovary rusty- 

 tomentose. Leaves coriaceous, pale-brown beneath, oblong, acuminate, 



