680 XLIII. BORAGINACEAE 



Artificial reproduction. The fruit-stones should be sown in the nursery 

 when the fruit ripens, about June-July, covered with earth and regularly 

 watered. The seedlings begin to appear in about three to four weeks, but may 

 continue to appear for three or four months : they should be regularly weeded 

 and watered, and will be ready for transplanting during the following rainy 

 season. Transplanting does not give much trouble, but it is preferable to 

 prune down the stem to about 1 in. from ground-level and to trim off the 

 roots to a small extent. 



Rate of growth. The annual rings are sometimes but not always 

 distinct. A cross-section in the silvicultural museum at Dehra Dun showed 

 51 rings for a girth of 3 ft. 9 in., representing a mean annual girth increment 

 of 0-88 in. Brandis gives 3 to 9 rings per inch of radius, representing a mean 

 annual girth increment of 0-7 to 2-1 in. Of specimens examined by Gamble 

 only two showed distinct rings, of which there were 1 to 2 per inch of radius, 

 representing a mean annual girth increment of 3-14 to 6-28 in., which is 

 extremely fast. 



The following measurements in coj)pice coupes at BuUawala near Dehra 

 Dun, recorded by Mr. A. F. Broun in 1886, show the rate of growth of Cordia 

 as compared with sal coppice : 



Cordia Myxa : coppice measurements, Bullawala, Dehra Dun. 



2. Cordia vestita, Hook. f. and Thorns. Vern. Kumbi, kum, kum-paiman, 

 bairola, latora, Hind. 



A small deciduous tree with rough coriaceous leaves and a somewhat 

 crooked bole. Bark greenish grey, smooth, with occasional deep widely 

 separated longitudinal cracks, exfoliating in large woody scales. Wood hard, 

 brown, streaked or mottled, very handsome, and suitable for ornamental 

 furniture. 



Distribution and habitat. Sub-Himalayan tract from the Jhelum to 

 the Sarda, rather scattered and nowhere very common. It is often found on 

 somewhat dry hill-sides in mixed deciduous forest, as in the Siwalik hills and 

 the outer Himalaya, where it ascends to 4,000 ft. It is also met with on open 

 grass -lands and in sal forest. 



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

 a phort time in the early part of the hot season, the new leaves appearing 

 about April-May. The small yellowish white flowers appear from February 

 to April and the fruits ripen in June-July. The fruit is a yellow fleshy pointed 

 drupe about 0-5-0-7 in. long, resting in the enlarged saucer-like calyx. The 

 pulj) is sweetish and edible ; it is eaten by birds, which scatter the hard fruit- 

 stones (Fig. 2.59, a). About 80-90 fruit-stones weigh 1 oz. Fresh seed tested 

 at Dehra Dun gave 50 per cent, of fertility, and seed from the same sample 

 kept for a year gave 43 per cent. 



