SAPOTACEAE 637 



specifically distinct, Mr. Burn-Murdoch notes that the tree is easily recognized 

 by its leaves, which are coriaceous, oblong or obovate-oblong, about 2 in. long 

 in mature plants but much longer in young plants, dark glossy green above 

 and a beautiful coppery gold colour beneath. The tree occurs most frequently 

 on the low hills and plains, often on steep hill-sides, up to 2,000 ft. and even 

 3,000 ft. above sea-level. During the latter half of last century the trees large 

 enough to yield gutta-percha were practically exterminated ; from about 1898 

 onwards steps were taken to conserve the existing stock, which, however, was 

 by that time found to consist of little except immature trees. The tree is 

 a pronounced shade-bearer and is able to maintain the struggle for existence 

 successfully, if slowly, in the dense evergreen forests in which it grows. Its 

 growth is slow. Natural seedlings are often plentiful, but in the overworked 

 areas many of the young plants are found to be coppice-shoots. 



At the time Mr. Burn-Murdoch wrote regular plantations were found to 

 be impossible in the Federated Malay States for want of seed, and the method 

 followed by the Forest Department was to cut lines through the dense under- 

 growth and to transplant into these lines young natural seedlings taken from 

 outside the reserved forests or from congested clumps of reproduction within 

 those forests. In addition improvement fellings are carried out to assist poles 

 and saplings, and undergrowth is cleared once a year or at longer intervals, 

 as may be found necessary, over natural seedlings or transplants : these 

 measures have been found to produce very beneficial results. The chief 

 damage to this tree is caused by the larva of a moth (Rhodoneura myrsusatis, 

 Wik. ? ) which eats the young shoots and leaves ; the damage is more extensive 

 in pure plantations than in the case of isolated plants under natural conditions. 



Genera 1. Mimusops, Linn. ; 2. Bassia, Linn. 



1. MIMUSOPS, Linn. 



Species L M. Elengi, Linn. ; 2. M. hexandra, Roxb. ; 3. M. liitoralis, 



Kurz. 



1. Mimusops Elengi, Linn. Vern. Mulsdri, Hind. ; Bukal, Beng. ; Oivli, 

 Mar. ; Bukul, Kan. ; Mahila, magadam, Tam. ; Elengi, Mai. ; Kaya, Burm. 



A large evergreen tree with a dense crown of shiny coriaceous leaves with 

 undulate margins. Bark dark grey, scaly. Wood very hard, with dark red 

 heartwood, heavy, strong, and durable, used for building, rice-pounders, &c. 

 The fruit is eaten and the seeds yield an oil used for cooking and lighting and 

 in medicine. Under favourable conditions the tree reaches large dimensions, 

 with a long cylindrical bole. 



Distribution and habitat. The Indian Peninsula along the Western 

 Ghats from Bombay southwards, and on the east from the Northern Circars 

 southwards, the Andamans and Burma, in Martaban and Tenasserim ; also 

 in Ceylon. The tree is fairly common in the moist evergreen forests of the 

 Western Ghats, where it attains large dimensions ; on the Eastern Ghats it is 

 found in the dry evergreen forests, often on laterite, as a comparatively small 

 tree. In the Andamans it is common in the evergreen and semi-deciduous forests 

 with Dipterocarpus spp., Planchonia andamanica, Artocarpus Chaplasha, A. 

 Lakoocha, Mesua ferrea, Hopea odorata, Terminalia bialata, T. Catappa, Lager- 

 stroemia hypoleuca, and other species. In its natural habitat the absolute 



