662 XXXVIII. OLEACEAE 



4. SCHREBERA, Roxb. 



Schrebera swietenioides, Roxb. Vern. Mokha, ghant, Hind. ; Mogalinga, 

 Tarn. ; MakTcam, mokkalapa, Tel. ; Thitswelwe, Burm. 



A moderate-sized deciduous tree with gvey branchlets thickened at the 

 nodes and opposite impariftinnate leaves. Bark grey, thin, scaly. Wood hard, 

 close grained, used for house-posts, turning, &c. 



The tree is found in rather dry mixed deciduous forests often on hilly 

 ground, in the sub-Himalayan tract from the Ramganga river eastwards, 

 Chota Nagpur, Central India, Rajputana, the Central Provinces, and the 

 Indian Peninsula generally ; Burma, in dry mixed forests. It is not a gre- 

 garious tree, but is found scattered in greater or less abundance in mixture 

 with other species. 



The tree is leafless from February-March till April-May. The terminal 

 cymose panicles of yellowish brown flowers appear with the young leaves from 

 April to June, and the fruits ripen during the following cold season. The 

 tree is easily recognized from its characteristic fruit, a pear-shaped, two-valved, 

 two-celled, woody capsule about 2-2-5 in. long, with two to four large angular 

 seeds in each cell. 



The tree stands a slight amount of shade. In the abnormal drought of 

 1899 and 1900 in the Indian Peninsula it was only slightly affected, but it is 

 somewhat sensitive to frost. It produces root-suckers. 



Little is known regarding the rate of growth : a cross-section 2 ft. 1 in. 

 in girth in the silvicultural museum at Dehra Dun had 31 rings, giving a mean 

 annual girth increment of 0-8 in. 



ORDER XXXIX. SALVADORACEAE 



SALVADORA, Linn. 



Species 1. S. oleoides, Dene.; 2. S. persica, Linn. 



1. Salvadora oleoides, Dene. Vern. Wdn,vdn,jdl,I'uniah; Kahbar , jhdr , 

 Sind ; Pilu, Mar. 



A shrub or small tree with drooping branches, evergreen or nearly so. 

 Wood sometimes used for building, agricultural implements, &c. ; a poor fuel. 

 The sweet fruit is eaten, often dried. The tree is a useful one for clothing 

 desert tracts : it gives a dense shade which is welcomed by cattle in the heat 

 of the day. This is a common species in the arid desert tracts of the Punjab 

 and Sind, and occurs to some extent in Rajputana. In the Jaipur State it 

 is common. It is gregarious, and is frequently associated with Caiyparis 

 aphylla, Prosopis spicigera, Tamarix articulata, and sometimes with Salvadora 

 persica. In the trans-Indus hills it ascends to 3,000 ft., and in the Salt Range 

 to 2,400 ft. (Brandis). It seems to thrive where the rainfall is below 25 in., 

 becoming scarcer where it is higher. It is capable of thriving on saline soils, 

 where, however, it is stunted. 



It coppices fairly well, and regenerates freely bj'^ root-suckers and to some 

 extent by natural layers. A dense, almost impenetrable growth is often formed 

 by a parent stem surrounded by a ring of root-suckers, while seedlings also 

 spring up under its shade. The new leaves appear about April. The small 



