SANDAN. 



Ougeinia dalbergioides, Eenth. 



Natural Order Leguminosse (Papilionacese) . 



1. General Distribution. 



Sdndnn is a tree of Central India, being common in the Central Pro- 

 vinces and becoming less plentiful in each direction outwards from the 

 centre, in Bengal, the United Provinces, Bombay and Madras. Its north- 

 ern limit is the Dehra Dun and its southern limit, the Palni Hills in 

 Madura. 



It does not occur in Ceylon, Assam or Burma, nor in the Punjab, 

 except perhaps to a small extent near the Jumna at the western end of the 

 Siwaliks. 



Further details are given under the various provinces. 



2. Locality and Habit. 



It is found much scattered in deciduous forests between a few hundred 

 and 4,000 feet above sea-level, reaching the latter height in the Palni Hills 

 in Southern Madras and in the Lower Himalayas, where it goes a long way 

 up the valleys and mixes with Chir pine. It prefers fertile loams and clays, 

 but will grow, though small and stunted, on shallow ridges. Further 

 details are given under the various provinces. 



It is a moderate- sized tree rarely attaining a girth of 7 feet and a 

 height of 60 feet, the smaller classes being much the most numerous. The 

 bark is thin and greyish and the trunk frequently short and irregularly 

 shaped, but the tree, especially when in full flower, is very handsome, and 

 is accordingly grown in gardens. It flowers between February and May 

 about the same time as the leaves are changed, the flowers being purple, 

 pink or white. 



3. Description, Properties and Uses of Timber. 



The sap-wood is narrow and grey and the heart-wood reddish or pale 

 brown, mottled. It is hard and close-grained, durable and tough, and takes 

 a good polish. It shows vertical bands of close-grained pale brown wood, 

 alternating with more open tissue, on a vertical section, and the cross 



