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A NOTE ON THE CIRCULATION OF C'ALYCOPTERIS 

 FLORIBUNDA. 



BY 



John Wallace, C.E. 



Iu the early days of the Indian police the way in which law breakers 

 could remain in the jungle, at seasons when all springs and streams were 

 dry, and when the village wells were watched, was very puzzling to the 

 authorities. Travelling through jungles or over uncultivated and rocky ground 

 in hot weather, and without drinking water, is a serious hardship, as many 

 a shikari knows to his cost, but the mystery was cleared up when it was dis- 

 covered that drinking water could be had from one of the largest climbing 

 plants, the Calycopteris floribunda, that is common in many parts of India and 

 may even be seen in and around Bombay. Examples are found on Gibbs Road, 

 Malabar Hill, outside the Bombay Gymkhana and also on the lawn in front of 

 the University Library, where a fine example of the plant grows upon an 

 isolated Pepul tree. 



The " Ukshi, " as the plant is called in the Thana District, is known in two 

 forms ; as a scandent plant in the jungles where it climbs the whole Of trees, 

 turning from left to right, forming great loops and festoons and reaching long- 

 distances from one tree to another, or travelling along the ground for the 

 same purpose, and meanwhile throwing out roots to form new plants. At 

 times it will also send out fresh shoots from the ground which will coil so 

 tightly around its older stems as to present the appearance of a hard twisted 

 rope. Its other form is that of a dense shrub when isolated and cut annually 

 for twigs and leaves, which are burnt on rice fields as manure. At the com- 

 mencement of the hot weather its pale golden flowers form a pleasing con- 

 trast with the surrounding foliage. 



The chief interest of this plant lies in its property of storing water, and in 

 the means by which this water is raised, stored and distributed. Mr. George 

 Ryan of the Indian Forest Service described the UhsM in a paper read before 

 this Society, on the 29th September 1904, and told how four pieces of stem, 

 totalling 9 feet 8 inches in length, and of an average diameter of 3i inches, 

 discharged when newly cut one quart of clear potable water. This water tends 

 to rise in the stem above the incision under the influence of some unexplained 

 force. The wood of the Ukshi is stringy, and filled with unusually large water 

 ressels which may be seen in the cross sections exhibited. These sections when 

 held against the light have the appearance of a delicate textile fabric sparkling 

 with luminous points. The cutting of them presented some difficulty, as sawing 

 produced a woolly surface, and sand-paper only filled all the pores with dust. 

 They were finally sawn nearly to size, fixed in a lathe, and cut with keen edged 

 chisel which was held with a vertical edge. The upward movement of the 

 water in the Ukshi represents a considerable force, for the surface resistance 

 of the innumerable vessels must be very great, even if the movement of the 

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