544 Lxxxix. SAPOTACEiB. (C. B. Clarke.) [Bassia. 



(usually 6-8-) celled ; style linear. Berry globose or oblong-ellipsoid, 1-3- 

 (rarely 4-5-) seeded. Seeds ellipsoid, bilum long, sometimes large ; albumen ; 

 radicle very small ; cotyledons hemi-ellipsoid, fleshy. — Disxrib. Species 30 ; in 

 India, Malaya and Polynesia. 



* Calyx-lobes 4, the 2 outer subvalvate including the others. 



i" Species of the Deccan Peninsula and Ceylon (B. latifolia, extending north- 

 wards to Kumaon). 



1. B. latifolia, i2o2'6, Co;-. P/. 20, 1. 19, and i^/./mii.iL 526; leaves elliptic or 

 oblong-elliptic shortly acuminate, calyx rusty-tomentose, anthers 20-30 .3-seriate 

 subsessile. Wall. Cat. 4163; A. DC. Prodr. viii, 108; Ddz. ^ Oibs. Bomb. 

 Fl. 139 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 41 ; Brand For. Fl. 289. B. viUosa, Wall. Cat. 

 4165. — Mahwah or Madhuca, C. Hamilton in As. Research, i. 300-308, with fig. 



Throughout Cbnteai. India ; alt. 1-4000 ft., abundant ; from West Bengal to the 

 Western Ghauts ; also wild in the Kttmaon Terai. — Distbib. Ava. 



A tree, 60 ft., •with a large head, the leaves clustered at the ends of the branches ; 

 all the young parts densely rusiy-woolly. Leaves 5 by 3 in., varying in size, and from 

 round-obovate to broad-lanceolate, acute, base cuneate, densely •woolly beneath when 

 young, in age glabrescent, primary nerves 12 on each side, subparallel, \-\ in. apart, 

 secondary very prominent, glabrous or obscurely pubescent ; petiole 1-1^ in. ; stipules 

 linear, caducous. Pedicels 1-1^ in., ■woolly, in dense clusters near the ends of the' 

 branches. Calyx-lobes ^J in., ovate, subacute, densely rusty-tomentose; nearly 

 al'ways i, rarely 5 ; the two outer segments always subvalvate and enclosing the 

 others. Corolla | in., yellowish white, tube fleshy ; lobes ^-\i (usually 8-9), short, 

 erect. Stamens usually 24-26; anthers hairy, acuminate. Berry 1-2. in., ovoid, 

 1-4-seeded. — The Corollas, collected and dried, form an important article of food 

 both for men and animals in Central India, and yield by distillation a coarse spirit. 

 The seeds yield an inferior oil, largely eaten by the tribes. Moa-tree, of the English 

 denizens, 



2. B. lon^lfolla, Linn. Mant. 563: leaves lanceolate narrowed at both 

 ends glabrous distinctly nerved, anthers 16 2-seriate sub^iessile tips 3-toothed, 

 young fruit globose densely hirsute. Gaertn. Fruet. t. 104 ; Lamfc. III. t. 398 ; 

 'Wall. Cat. 4162; Po.xb. Fl. Ind. ii. 523 ; A. DC. Prodr. viii. 197 ; Wi<fht III. 

 t. 147; Bah. ^ Oibs. Bomb. Fl. 139; Thioaites Enum. 175; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. 

 t. 42. 



Malabah; from Canara southwards, and Ceylon; common. 



A tree, .50 ft. ; leaves clustered towards the ends of the branches ; all the young 

 parts rusty-tomentose. Leaver 4-6 byli in., mature glabrescent, primary nerves 12 

 on each side, distinct, secondary distinct; petiole l-lj in.; stipules linear. Pedicels 

 1-2 in., tomentose, in dense clusters near the ends of the branches. Calyx-lobes 

 ^-J in,, ovate, subacute. Corolla § in. ; lobes usually 6, scarcely one-third the length 

 of the tube. Filaments hairy ; anthers 3-toothed at the apex (A. DC), the short 

 mueronation of the connective between the tips of the two cells giving this appear- 

 ance more strongly than is indicated in any of the figures. Berry 1-lJ in. diam., 

 globose, ultimately nearly glabrous, 1-2-seeded or {fide Roxburgh) sometimes 3-4- 

 seeded. — The figure of G-aertner shows the fruit 5-seeded, which may be an error ; 

 A. DC. doubts this figure, while he expresses no doubt about Lamarck's (111. t. 398) 

 which is copied from it. This species has been much confounded with the next, but 

 the young fruit is widely diiferent. 



3. B. malabarlca, Bedd. For. Man. 140 ; branchlets glabrous, leaves 

 lanceolate or oblong obtuse or scarcely acute glabrescent distinctly nerved, 

 stamens 16 in 2 series subsessile connective excurrent lanceolate-linear, young 

 fruit oblong-lanceolate glabrous. 



South Canara, Malabar, and the Anamallats; up to 4000 ft., abundant, 

 BeddoTne. 



