298 XLIX. EBENACEiE. [Diospyi 



More abundant trans- Indus, in Swat and other districts north of the Peshawai 

 valley, N.E. Afghanistan, Beluchistan, wild and cultivated. Three trees (pro- 

 bably brought by Fakirs) at Jaggatsukh in Kullu (6000 ft.) called Bissahri pdla, 

 the largest 12 ft. girth. Outside India in Asia Minor, Persia, the Caucasus, 

 China and Japan. Naturalised in South Europe. Hardy in England. The 

 leaves turn yellow in autumn, and are shed about the end of the year, the new 

 leaves coming out in spring. Fl. April-May ; fr. June- Aug. Growth slow, 10 

 rings per in. radius. 30-40 ft. high in India, with a massive straight trunk, 

 generally under 6 ft. girth. Foliage bright green. Bark 1 in. thick, dark 

 brown or black, tesselated by cracks, somewhat resembling that of Reptonia 

 buxifolia. The fruit is sweetish, and much prized by the Afghan tribes, who 

 eat it fresh or dried, plain or with rice, and use it in sherbets. The Lotus of 

 ancient writers is not this tree, but probably Zizyphus Lotus, p. 89. 



5. D. Embryopteris, Persoon; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 69. Syn. Embryop- 

 teris glutinifera, Eoxb. Cor. PL t. 70 ; Wight Ic. t. 843, 844. D. gluti- 

 nosa, Koenig; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 533. Vern. Gab, Beng., N.W.P.; Kusi, 

 Banda. 



A middle-sized tree ; almost glabrous, youngest leaves only silky vdth 

 adpressed hairs. Leaves alternate, distichous, coriaceous, smooth, shin- 

 ing, oblong, 5-8 in. long, on thick wrinkled petioles less than \ in. long. 

 Flowers white or cream-coloured, scented, tetramerous. Male flowers in 

 small axillary drooping pedunculate cymes of 3-6 flowers. Stamens 40 ; 

 anthers linear, somewhat hairy, filaments shorter than anthers, 2 and 2 

 connate nearly to the anther, inserted at the base of the corolla -tube. 

 Female flowers large, solitary, axillary, drooping, on short pedicels. Sta- 

 minodes 2-4. Ovary hairy ; styles 4-6, with broad, pectinate stigmas. 

 Fruit globose, supported by the enlarged calyx-lobes, covered with rusty- 

 coloured, mealy tomentum, glabrous at last, greyish yellow when ripe, 

 1 J-2 in. diam. ; seeds 5-8, embedded in a viscid glutinous pulp. 



South India. Common on the western coast, particularly along backwaters 

 (Bedd.), Ceylon, Burma, Bengal, Banda. In the sub-Himalayan tract, extends 

 to the Jumna, ascending to 2500 ft. Also in Siam and Java. Evergreen, fl. 

 March-May ; fr. Dec. Growth moderate, 7-8 rings per in. radius. Attains 30- 

 35 ft., with an erect trunk, not always straight, 4 ft. girth, spreading branches, 

 forming an open oval crown. Bark -j? in. thick, black, generally with a thin, 

 whitish or rust-coloured scaly pellicle. Wood pinkish grey or light brown, with 

 dark patches, used for building, and in Ceylon for masts and yards. The fruit 

 contains much tannin ; an infusion of it is used to steep fishing nets and lines, 

 to make them more durable. The viscid pulp of the ripe fruit is used as gum, 

 in bookbinding, and in place of tar, for paying the seams of fishing-boats. The 

 extract of the fruit is an excellent astringent (Pharm. Ind. 132). Oil ex- 

 tracted from the seeds by boiling, as well as the bark, and leaves are used in 

 native medicine. 



Order L. STYRACE^]. 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate simple exstipulate leaves. Flowers 

 regular. Calyx-tube usually more or less adnate to the ovary, limb 5-, 

 rarely 4-lobed. Corolla perigynous, regular, deeply divided into as many 



