260 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol.X. 



THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 



By Sukgeon-Major K. R. Kirtikak, i.m.s., f.l.s., 



Civil Surgeon, Thana. 



PART XIV. 



(With plate F.) 



[Continued from Vol. X, page 107.) 



ALANGIUM LAMAUGKll—iThioaitesy 



Natural Order — CoRNACEiE. 



MARATEI— sT^rs (AiiM). 



This is a very handsome tree, and grows very well in the Konkan. 

 Whether in foliage, flower, or fruit, — in whatever condition or season it 

 is seen, — it is a striking plant. It is beautifully green-leaved through- 

 out the year, except when about to blossom. Every branch of it, from 

 the largest to the smallest, is covered from head to foot with clusters of 

 cream-white, sweet-scented flowers. The entire plant thus in full bloom 

 is very attractive to the eye. Later on, when in the height of summer 

 the branches are loaded with clusters of fruit of the size of an ordinary 

 marble, their rich bright crimson is particularly charming to the eye. 



TRUNK. — The trunk of the tree is short, erect, generally 

 from 2 to o feet in girth. Rheede gives its girth as 6 feet (Hort. 

 Mai., vol. iv, p. 55). Sometimes the trunk is irregular. There is a 

 large tree in the compound of the Military Hospital, Thana, the girth 

 of which is fully nine feet. The main trunk sends out underground 

 stems or " sucket's" The tree in the Military Hospital compound 

 referred to has nearly half a dozen distinct trees developed from such 

 suckers within an area of twenty feet around. In a Mahomedan 

 grave-yard not far from the Civil Hospital, Thana, there are several 

 large trees from which several smaller trees have developed through 

 suckers. Writing about Central India plants, Brandis observes that 

 the trunk " coppices well " (Forest Flora, p. 250). So it does in 

 the Konkan. 



The height of the tree varies from 30 to 40 feet ; under fovourable 

 circumstances it is sometimes as much as 50 feet. 



