Chukrasia] XXIX. MELIACE.E 1 L5 



A tall tree, usually deciduous, heartwood brown with a satin lustre. 

 Leaves pinnate, leaflets 10-24, as a rule alternate, unequal-sided, 2-5 in. long, 

 upper surface glabrous, lower pubescent. Fl. white, .V in. long. Petals oblong, 

 erect, imbricate in bud. Stamina! tube cylindric, with 10 short teeth, anthers 

 on the edge of the tube. Ovary cylindric, usually 3-celled, with numerous 

 biseriate ovules in each cell. Capsule ovoid, H in. long, valves usually 3, 

 woody, separating entirely from the broad axis. Seeds numerous, flat, closely 

 packed, broadly winged. 



Sikkim, Chittagong, Andamans, Burma. Western Peninsula, along the Western 

 Ghats, also on tin- Sandur hills of the Deccan. Fl. H. S. and R. !S. Ceylon, Malay 

 Peninsula, Cochinchina 1 , Borneo, China. — 2. C. velutina, Roemer; Kurz, F. Fl. i. 227. 

 Burma, Cochinchina. Branchlets, leaves and inflorescence velvety, capsules black, 

 shining, apiculate, is a distinct species or very marked variety, 



15. CEDRELA, Linn.; Fl. Brit. Ind. i. 568. 



Trees with pinnate leaves and paniculate bisexual fl. Wood light, soft, red, 

 no heartwood, vessels large, conspicuous on a vertical section. Petals 5, erect. 

 Disk thick, fleshy, 5-lobed or cylindrical. Filaments 4-ii, inserted on the 

 edge of tin- disk, subulate, anthers oblong, versatile. Ovary 5-celled, 

 narrowed into a style, stigma broad, often ;Vlohed. ovules pendulous, 

 biseriate, 8-12 in each cell. Capsule opening by 5 valves, the valves sepa- 

 rating from the dissepiments, which remain attached to the axis, forming a 

 pentagonal column of soft white pith. Seeds numerous, imbricate, flat, winged. 

 Albumen scanty, embryo straight with Eoliaceous cotyledons, the radicle point- 

 ing upwards. Species 1(1, tropical Asia, America and Australia. 



Cedrela odorata, I... and other sj ies furnish the West Indian Cedar wood. The 



American species have o cylindrical disk and wings al base of s 1 only. The Asiat ic 



and Australian species with shorl disk and seeds winged ni the top or at both ends 

 have been placed in a separate genus, Toona, by Pierre Fl. For. Coch. t. 358; Harms, 

 Engler a. Prantl tii. I. 269 and others. 



1. C. Toona, Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 238; Wight Ic. t. 161 : Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 

 10; Brandis !•'. Fl. t. 11. The Toon tree. Vera. Tun, TUni, Tunni, Malta 

 Him, Hind.; Katangai, Kol; Todu, Mar.; Tundu, Devdari, Kan.: Noga, 

 Coorg ; ThSvathavam, Tarn.; Mathagiri venibu, Mai.; Thitkado, Lower, 

 Tawtama, Upper Burma. 



A large, rapidly growing tree, nearly evergreen. Wood red. not hard, 

 shining, does nol split or warp, annual rings marked by wider vessels. I,. 



glabrous, paripinnate, leallets opposite ,.r nearly so, .VIM pair, hue la ie or 



ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, often unequal-sided and falcate, entire or undulate, 

 blade 3 5,petiolule \~l in. Panicles terminal, cymnse, generally shorter than 

 leaves, the hist raiuilieations pubescent. Kl. wliite, honey-scented, J -J in. long. 

 Sepals •"). ciliate, obtuse, petals filiate on the edges, otherwise glabrous, on 

 the inside thickened. Stamens 5, inserted on 6 fleshy orange-coloured hairy 



lobes of the disk. Filaments glabrOUS, ovary hairy, capsule smooth. ( '-l in. 



long. Seeds with membranous wings at both ends. 



Subhimalayan tract, from the Fndus eastwards, ascending to 5,000 ft. Evergreen 

 forests of the Western Ghats and other hills of the Western Peninsula (not in Ceylon), 

 Ehasi bills, Btfanipur, Qpper and Lower Burma, Cull ivated extensively : while young 

 requires shelter men insl frost in the plains of the Punjab, but grows freely afters; 



Tl Id leaves are shed gradually during the cold season, the young foliag mes out 



February-April with the tl.. seed ripens May-July, the emptj capsules remaining on 

 t he t ree for mont hs. 



2. C. serrata, Royle III. t. 25; Brandis P. PI. Tit. Collet.. Simla PI. 

 fig. 26. Vera. Dram, Dal, Dalra, Dauri, Krishing, X. W. Himalaya. 



Differs from Toona by leaves generally imparipinnate, leaflets mostly serrate, 

 green above, glaucous beneath. Panicles longer than leaves, drooping. PI. 



i. 



