554 LXXVII. PALMiE. [Phoenix. 



are called Butra or pattra in Muzaffargarh, and khushab in Shahpur. The 

 petioles make excellent light walking-sticks, split up they furnish material for 

 crates and baskets ; the fibrous network, which forms the sheathing base of the 

 petioles, is called kabdl or khajur kd bokla in Muzaffargarh, pack-saddles for 

 oxen are made of it, and the fibre separated is made into ropes. It is also 

 known as khajur munj (Powell, Pb. Products, 517). The fruit, however, is the 

 most useful product of the tree ; it furnishes, fresh or dried, the staple food of 

 the inhabitants of Arabia, part of Syria, and the desert tracts of North Africa. 

 In Sindh the Date is called khurma when pulled ripe, and chuwarar when 

 plucked before it is fully ripe, and boiled and dried in the sun. In the Pan jab, 

 Dates form an important article of food in certain districts, and they are sold in 

 the bazar under different names, according to quality and the mode of prepara- 

 tion. Thus, according to Coldstream (Powell, Pb. Products, 268), the most es- 

 teemed kind is called chirni in the Muzaffargarh district ; this is the Date of the 

 best Palms, split up in the middle and dried in the sun. The second best is called 

 pind; it is eaten as it comes from the tree, without farther preparation. The 

 least esteemed kind is bugri, taken from inferior trees and boiled in oil and water. 

 The Panjab Dates are smaller than those of Arabia or Egypt, but they are very 

 good, and particularly so when there has been little or no late rain. When begin- 

 ning to get ripe, apiece of matting is often put over the cluster of Dates to prevent 

 birds eating them. The kernels are deemed medicinal. The large succulent head, 

 cut from among the mass of leaves, is eaten gaddah, Hind. ; gdri or galli in 

 Muzaffargarh. The tree yields a gum, called hukm chU. Attempts have been 

 made, but without much success, to tap the Date-trees of Multan for their 

 sugary sap (Stewart, Pb. Plants, 245). 



2. P. sylvestris, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 787 j F. Hamilton in Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xv. 86 J Griffith Calc. Journal of Nat. Hist. v. 350 ; Palms, t, 228, 

 A. Wild Date Palm. Sans. Kharjura. Vern. Khajur, khaji. In the 

 North- West Himalaya, Salma, thalma, thakil. 



A tree, attaining 30-40 ft., stem rough with the prominent scars of 

 fallen petioles, no root -suckers. Leaves greyish -green, 7-12 ft. long, 

 pinnae very numerous, 6-18 in. long, alternate and opposite, not fascicled ; 

 petiole compressed in the leaf-bearing part, brown at base. Inflorescence 

 and flowers similar to those of P. dactylifera, peduncles of female flowers 

 often 3-4 ft. long and 2-3 in. broad. Fruit oblong, about 1 in. long, green 

 at first, reddish-yellow when ripe, pulp scanty, sweetish and astringent. 



Indigenous in many parts of India, forms extensive forests in Rohilkhand, on 

 the low ground along the Ramganga river, and on the plateau of Mysore between 

 Shimoga and Tumkur, in moister stretches of low ground which intersect and 

 drain the rocky undulating granite hills. Not uncommon in the Siwalik tract 

 and the outer Himalaya, often associated with Pinus longifolia, attaining 5000 

 ft. in Kamaon, with stems 40-50 ft. high (Madden, arborescent form of P. humi- 

 lis). Ghiaunla in Garhwal at 3500 ft., 24-30 ft. high (Jacquemont). Banks of 

 the Bias above Mandi (Cleghorn). In the Jamu hills at 2000 ft. elevation 

 (T. Thomson, Him. Journ. 320). Salt range. Commonly planted and self- 

 sown in most parts of India and Ceylon, except in Sindh and South Panjab, 

 where P. dactylifera takes its place. Most abundant in Bengal, Behar, on the 

 Coromandel coast, and in Guzerat. Fl. in March ; the fruit ripening in Sept. 

 and Oct. Mats and baskets are made of the leaves, but the chief product of the 

 tree is the sugary juice, which is extracted during the cold season from Nov. to 

 Feb. The lower leaves and their sheaths are removed, and a deep notch is cut 



