140 XXIX. MELIACEjE [Mclia 



8. MELIA, Linn. ; El. Brit. Ind. i. 543. 



Trees with bipinnate or tripimiate leaves, calyx segments 5-6, short. Petals 

 5-6, linear-spathulate. Stamens 10-12, monadelphous ; anthers inserted on 

 the edge of the tube between the teeth. Ovary 3-6-celled, 2 superposed ovules 

 in each cell. Er. a dry or fleshy drupe, the stone 5-celled, each cell with one 

 pendulous seed, cotyledons foliaceous, albumen thin. Species 12. Indo- 

 Malayan. 



1. M. Azedarach, Linn.; Wight Ic. t. 160; Bedd. El. Sylv. t. 13. 

 Persian Lilac. Vern. Drek. Pb. ; Bakain, Hind.; Dek, Dun; Yerri vepa, 

 Turaka vepa, Tel. ; Hutchu bevu, Kan. ; Vembu, Tarn., Mai. 



A middle-sized deciduous tree, young shoots and inflorescence sparsely clothed 

 with deciduous stellate hairs, heartwood light red, annual rings marked by a belt 

 of large vessels. Pinnae 3-4 pair, more or less opposite. Leaflets 3-12, ovate- 

 lanceolate, more or less deeply serrate, sometimes lobed. PI. lilac, with a 

 strong honey-scent. Staminal tube purple, -i- in. long, teeth 20-30. linear, 

 anthers glabrous, shorter than or as long as teeth. Stigma clavate 5-toothed. 

 Drupe yellow when ripe, 3-4 in. long. 



Cultivated and naturalized throughout India and Burma. Stands more cold than the 

 Neem, grows at 9,000 feet in Bashahr (Chini). Supposed to he indigenous in Baluchistan 

 and the Jhelum valley in Kashmir. Fl. H. S. 



2. M. composita, Willd. ; Bedd. PI. Sylv. t. 12 : Kino- in Journ. As. 

 Soc. Bengal, vol. 64 (1895) 18. Syn. M. robusta, Roxb. El. Ind. ii. 397; 

 M. dubia, PI. Brit. Ind. i. 545 (not Cav.). Vern. Labshi, Nep. ; Maiha limbu, 

 Uriya ; Heb-bevu, Kan. ; Malei Vembu, Tarn., Mai. 



A tall tree of rapid growth, heartwood reddish. Young shoots and inflores- 

 cence clothed with mealy stellate hairs. L. bipinnate, leaflets opposite, 

 ovate-lanceolate, sometimes serrulate. PL white, staminal tube A in. long, 

 hairy, mouth woolly, divided into 10 more or less laciniate teeth, anthers 

 longer than teeth and inserted between them. Stigma 5-toothed. Drupe 

 ovoid 1-1 h in. 



Sikkim, ascending to 6,000 ft. (Gamble List 16), Nainbar Forest, Assam (D.B. March, 

 1879) Gumsur hills, Northern Circars. Western Ghats from Bombay southwards. Fl. 

 Jan.— March. Ceylon, Malay Peninsula, Cochinchina, Java, China, Australia. Specimens 

 from the Khasi hills and Manipur, the staminal tube J in. long, drupe nearly globose, 

 J in. long, have been referred to M. Toosendan, Sieb. et Zucc. of Japan. Hardly different 

 is M. hirmanica, Kurz, F. Fl. i. 213 (Taw thamaka, Burni.), Pegu, Bhamo, supposed by 

 King to be identical with M. superha, Eoxb. 



9. CARAPA, Aublet ; PI. Brit. Ind. i. 566. 



Evergreen glabrous trees. L. paripinnate, leaflets opposite, quite entire. 

 Fl. bisexual, in axillary panicles. Calyx short, in the Indian species dentate, 

 petals 4, edges slightty overlapping, contorted in bud. Staminal tube urce> 

 late or globose, mouth 8-dentate, anthers inserted between the teeth, nearly 

 included. Ovary glabrous, 4-celled, the base immersed in the thick fleshy disk, 

 cells with 2-8 ovules, style short, stigma broad discoid. Pr. globose, large, 

 pericarp fleshy, dehiscing by 4 valves. Seeds large angular without albumen, 

 cotyledons contain starch and oil. Species 6, tropical, mostly littoral. 



1. C. obovata, Blume; Kurz, P. FL i. 226. — Syn. C. moluccensis, Bedd. 

 PL Sylv. t. 136 (not of Lamk.) ; Xyloearpus obovatus, A. Juss. ; Harms in 

 .Engler u. Prantl iii. 4. 278. Vern. PinU on, Burm. ; Earambola, Dhundol, 

 Sund. 



A small tree, heartwood reddish-brown, hard, leaves 3-6 in. long, leaflets 

 1-2 pair, coriaceous, obovate, apex broad, obtuse, base narrowed. Panicles 

 11— 2^ in. long, stout, few-flowered. Fruit 7-10 in. diam. 



