TERMINALIA 511 



A tree raised from seed sown in 1901 by Mr. Haines in the forest garden 

 at Chaibassa, Chota Nagpur, attained in sixteen years a height of 36 ft. and 

 a girth of 2 ft. li in. 



Gamble's specimens gave three to seven rings per inch of radius, repre- 

 senting a mean annual girth increment of 0-9 to 2-1 in., which is rapid. 



As regards coppice, measurements by Mr. C. M. McCrie in 1910 in the 

 Ramgarh coppice coupes, Gorakhpur, gave the following results : 



Terminalia belerica : rate of growth of coppice, Ramgarh, Gorakhpur, United 



Provinces. 



2. Terminalia Chebula, Retz. Syn. T. tomentella, Kurz. Myrabolan tree. 

 Vern. Harra, Hind. ; Hirda, Mar. ; Aiiale, Kan. ; Kadakai, Tam. ; Karaka, 

 Tel. ; Panga, Burm. 



A moderate-sized to large deciduous tree with a rounded crown, spreading 

 branches, and usually a short trunk, though in Burma it often grows taU and 

 straight. Bark dark brown, often longitudinally cracked, exfoliating in woody 

 scales. Wood very hard, fairly durable, used for building, agricultural imple- 

 ments, and other purposes. The tree is important mainly on account of its 

 fruits, which are the best of the commercial myrabolans used for tanning. 



Distribution and habitat. Throughout the greater part of India and 

 Burma in mixed deciduous forests, extending into forest of comparatively dry 

 types. It ascends to considerable elevations, up to 5,000 ft. in the outer 

 Himalaya, and according to Bourdillon, up to 6,000 ft. in Travancore in localities 

 where the rainfall is light. In Burma it occurs in deciduous forests both of 

 the upper and of the lower mixed types, along with teak, Terminalia tomentosa, 

 and their associates : it occurs also in indaing forest on laterite, along with 

 DipterocarpKS tuberculatus and its companions. It extends to the borders of 

 the dry zone of Burma, but is not a characteristic tree of the drier parts of 

 that zone. It is found on a variety of geological formations, and on clayey 

 as well as on sandy soil. In the Central Provinces it is particularly common 

 on metamorphic rocks in open forest or village lands, but also occurs on other 

 geological formations. In Bombay it is common on Deccan trap, and Talbot 

 notes that on the laterite of the Mahableshwar plateau at 4,500 ft. it is one of 

 the principal constituents of the low elfin- wood forest . It is also a characteristic 

 tree of other special types of dry forest. Thus in the Goalpara district of Assam 

 it is common in the bhahar tract fringing the base of the outer hills on deep 

 boulder formation in mixture with sal and Lagerstroemia parvifiora in a dry 

 stunted type of forest of a pronounced deciduous character : again, in the 

 Kangra valley it grows gregariously in rather stunted form on poor rocky 

 ground at about 3,500 ft. elevation, either pure or mixed with Pinus longi- 

 folia. 



