ALBIZZIA 467 



when drawn up by other trees it produces a long straight bole. In the Anda- 

 mans it is said to yield squares up to ^0 ft. long with 3 ft. siding. 



The sap wood is whitish and large, the heart wood dark brown with lighter 

 or darker streaks, ornamental, used for building, furniture, agricultural 

 and other implements, carving, turning, &c. The burrs are particularly 

 valuable. 



Distribution and habitat. The tree has been so extensively planted 

 in gardens, along roadsides and in other places, from which it has probably 

 run wild, that its natural habitat is difficult to determine. It is believed to 

 be wild in the sub-Himalayan tract, Bengal, Chota Nagpur, the Indian 

 Peninsula, Burma, and the Andaman and Cocos islands. In the Himalayan 

 valleys it occurs up to 4,000 ft. or sometimes more, usually along the banks 

 of streams. Haines has come to the conclusion that it is nowhere wild in the 

 southern forest circle of the Central Provinces, though very commonly planted, 

 but the tree often called A. Lebbek is A. odoratissima, Benth., var. lebbekifoJ"''^ 

 Haines. Talbot says it is scattered throughout the Bombay Presidency in dry 

 and moist monsoon forests. It is undoubtedly wild in some of the Madras 

 forests, and Bourdillon says it is wild in the deciduous forests of Travancore 

 at low elevations. It is a tree of the mixed deciduous forests, in both dry and 

 moist types, or of moist semi-evergreen or even evergreen forest, usually 

 occurring scattered and not gregariously. In the Andamans it is a regular 

 forest tree, and occurs not only in the semi-deciduous or padauk-bearing 

 forest but also in the evergreen forest : in the former it is associated with 

 Pterocarpus dalbergioides, Lagerstroemia hypoleuca, Terminalia bialata, Bombax 

 insigne, Sterculia alata, 8. villosa, Myristica Irya, Artocarpus Chaplasha, and 

 other species, while in the evergreen forest its chief companions are Diptero- 

 carpus turbitiatus and other species of Dipferocarpus , Planchonia andamanica, 

 Artocarpus Chaplaslia, A. Lakoocha, Myristica Irya, Calophyllum spectabile, 

 Mesua ferrea, Hopea odorata, Mimusops Elengi, Baccaurea sapida, and Podo- 

 carpus neriifolia. Fig. 177 shows a tree in evergreen forest. 



Mr. F. H. Todd^ notes that in the North Andaman its northern limit, 

 except for occasional specimens, is the Balmi creek, and that it is particularly 

 abundant in Interview and Bennett Islands, in which from valuation surveys 

 he estimated the stock to be : (1) trees 6 ft. in girth and over, 7,820 ; (2) trees 

 41-6 ft. in girth, 3,275 ; (3) trees 3-4i ft. in girth, 3,275. He also mentions 

 that in the North Andaman the tree grows best in the moist semi-evergreen 

 forests, and though fairly numerous in the deciduous forests, it is usually 

 somewhat stunted. 



More recent estimates from enumerations by Mr. Bonig, in which Mr. 

 Todd's figures are incorporated, give the following figures : - 



Northi Andaman felling series .... 

 Middle Andaman felling series .... 

 Southern Andaman felling series .... 



[n Burma it grows in tropical forests as well as in mixed deciduous forests. 



^ Draft Working Plan for the Forests of the North Andaman, 1900. 

 ^ Working Plan Report of the Andamans Forest Division, 1916. 



K 2 



