FAGRAEA 677 



says that in the Malay Peninsula it is very largely gregarious, coming up 

 freely on grassy blanks and being easily propagated. 



The fruit, a red berry about the size of a pea, ripens in Tenasserim about 

 September-^October. The seeds are minute. 



ORDER XLIII. BORAGINACEAE 



Genera 1. Cordia, Linn.; 2. Ehretia, Linn. 



1. CORDIA, Linn. 



This genus comprises about fifteen Indian trees and shrubs, some with 

 very ornamental wood suitable for cabinet work. Some of these species deserve 

 more study than they have yet received. 



Species 1. C. Myxa, Linn. ; 2. C. vestita, Hook. f. and Thorns. ; 3. C. Rothii, 

 Roem. and Sch. ; 4. C. Macleodii, Hook. f. and Thorns. 



1. Cordia Myxa, Linn. Syn. C. obliqua, Willd. Vern. Lasora, bhokar, 

 borla, Hind. ; Buhal, bohari, Beng. ; Bhokar, shelu, Mar. ; Challe, Kan. ; Iriki, 

 Tel. ; Vidi, Tarn. ; Thanat, Burm. 



A small or moderate-sized deciduous tree with variable orbicular, elliptical, 

 oblong, or obovate coriaceous glabrous leaves, and often drooping branches. 

 Bark greyish brown, smooth or longitudinally wrinkled. Wood moderately 

 ha^rd, not durable, used for boat-building, well-curbs, gun-stocks, &c. ; a good 

 fuel. The bast fibre is used for cordage. The leaves are used in Burma for 

 cheroot-wrappers, and the tree is frequently grown round Burmese villages 

 and pollarded for the production of leaves. Its mucilaginous fruits are eaten. 



Distribution and habitat. Throughout India, Burma, and Ceylon, 

 ascending in Himalayan valleys to 5,000 ft. It is not a gregarious tree, but 

 is widely distributed, preferring moist shady ravines and the sides of valleys. 

 It is found in a great variety of locahties, from the dry forests of Sind and 

 Rajputana to the moist deciduous forests of Burma and western India, and is 

 often cultivated. In Burma it enters the tidal forests (Kurz). Within its 

 habitat in India the absolute maximum shade temperature varies from 95 to 

 120 F., the absolute minimum from under 30 to over 60 F., and the normal 

 rainfall from under 10 in. to 120 in. or more, though in the driest regions it 

 exists by the aid of river water. 



Leaf-siiedding, flowering, and fruiting. The tree is leafless for 

 a short time in the hot season. The small white polygamous flowers in loose 

 corymbose cymes a^jpear from March to May. The fruits ripen from June to 

 August, some remaining on the tree through September (northern India). The 

 fruit is a yellow or pinkish yellow shiny globose or ovoid drupe 0-5-1 in. long 

 seated on the saucer-like enlarged calyx, and containing a hard one- or two- 

 celled stone (Fig. 258, a) in a viscid edible pulp : the fruits turn black on 

 ripening. About 120-160 stones weigh 1 oz. The trees are a striking sight 

 when covered with the yellow fruits, which are eagerly eaten by monkeys and 

 birds. Bourdillon (Travancore) says the fruits ripen from February to May, 

 and Kurz (Burma) says March to April. 



So far as tests carried out at Dehra Dun show, the seed has a rather 

 low percentage of fertility, possibly owing to the fact that the stones are often 



