Bassia.] XLVIII. SAPOTACE^E. 289 



brown, hard, heavy and very durable wood (Bullet or Bully wood) from Cen- 

 tral America and the West Indies, which produces the tiapota, one of the most 

 pleasant fruits known, when completely ripe ; is grown in gardens in Bengal, 

 and as far north as Saharanpur. 



1. BASSIA, Koenig. 



Trees, with milky juice. Flowers on axillary, generally fasciculate 

 pedicels. Calyx divided nearly to the base into 4-8 biseriate lobes, the 

 outer lobes subvalvate, the inner subimbricate in bud. Corolla ovoid or 

 campanulate, limb of 5-14 divisions. Stamens numerous, or twice or 

 thrice as many as lobes of the corolla, all fertile, in 1-3 series ; anthers 

 erect, lanceolate from a cordate base, cuspidate or aristate, 2-celled ; 

 cells distinct, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary hirsute, 4-8-celled ; style 

 simple, long exserted. Fruit an oblong or globose berry, 1-4-seeded. 

 Seeds oblong, exalbuminous, with a shining crustaceous testa. Cotyledons 

 oblong-elliptic, fleshy, filled with oil, radicle inferior. 



Corolla-tube fleshy ; lobes erect ; anthers 22-30, sessile . . 1. B. latifolia. 

 Corolla-tube not fleshy; lobes spreading; anthers 30-40, on long 



filaments . ......... 2. B. butyracea. 



1. B. latifolia, Eoxb. Cor. PL t. 19 j Fl. Ind. ii. 526 j Bedd. Fl. Sylv. 

 t. 41. Sans. Madhuka. Vern. Mahwa, mahua, mohwa. Local names : 

 Irup mara, Gondi. 



A large tree ; young branches, young leaves, pedicels and petiole pu- 

 bescent or tomentose. Leaves coriaceous, firm, hard, clustered near ends 

 of branches, elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 5-6 in. long, short-acuminate, on 

 petioles 1-1 J in. long; main lateral nerves 10-12 pair. Stipules subu- 

 late, J or J the length of petioles. Flowers numerous, near the ends 

 of branches below the terminal leaf-bud, drooping, on pedicels 1-1 J in. 

 long. Calyx coriaceous, densely clothed with rusty tomentum ; sepals 4-5, 

 ovate. Corolla cream-coloured; tube ovoid, fleshy, limb with 7-14, often 

 8 or 9, short erect ovate teeth. Stamens 20-30, generally 24 or 26 j 

 anthers hispid at the back with stiff hairs, sessile, inserted in three series 

 on the inside of the corolla-tube, the upper series near the mouth. Fruit 

 green, fleshy, ovoid, 1-2 in. long, seeds 1-4. 



Cultivated, propagating itself by self-sown seedlings, and protected in most 

 parts of India. In the Panjab, it is grown in the sub-Himalayan tract and the 

 outer valleys as far as the Ravi, but not commonly in the plains. Abundant in 

 all parts of Central India from Guzerat to Behar. There seems no doubt that 

 the tree is indigenous in the forests of the Satpura range, of Western India 

 above Ghat, and perhaps also of eastern Kamaon. Thrives in dry stony ground. 

 The old leaves are shed gradually from Feb. to April, the fresh leaves opening 

 out immediately afterwards. The flowers generally appear before the new 

 leaves, in March and April ; and after the corollas have dropped, the leaf-buds 

 above the flowers expand. Fruit ripens June, July. 



Attains 40-60 ft., with a short trunk 6-7 ft. girth, and numerous spreading 

 branches, forming a close, shady, rounded crown. Bark 1-2 in. thick, grey, 

 brown or blackish, with shallow wrinkles and cracks. Inner bark red, milky. 



Sapwood large, reddish white, heartwood reddish brown, close- and even- 



T 



