Rhus.] XXIX. ANACAEDIACE^. 121 



A tree. Young branches, petioles, under side of leaves, and inflorescence 

 clothed with dense, soft, rusty or greyish-brown -tomentum ;' leaves ap- 

 proximate near ends of branches, 12-15 in. long, imparipinnate ; leaflets 

 opposite, 3-5 pair, nearly sessile, the terminal long-petiolulate, oblong or 

 eUiptic from unequal-sided base, acuminate, entire, with 20-25 arcuate 

 main nerves on either side of midrib. Panicles much shorter than leaves, 

 lateral from the axils of the lower or of fallen leaves. Flowers nearly 

 sessUe, petals with dark veins. Fruit ovoid or globose, ^ in. long, in 

 compact pyramidal panicles, rusty pilose when young, nearly glabrous 

 when ripe. Outer pericarp dry, chartaceous, splitting irregularly. Kernel 

 hard, smooth, in a mass of vegetable wax. 



Common in places between 2000 and 4000 ft., ascending to 7000 ft., Himalaya 

 from the Indus to Sikkim. Fl. May, June ; fr. July-Sept. A large handsome 

 tree, 50 ft., with a trunk attaining 5-6 ft. girth. Mostly in open places, not in 

 forests. Bark of trunk grey, smooth, shining. Wood reddish brown, with in- 

 distinct medullary rays, soft, not valued. (On the Sutlej, yellow when dry ; used 

 for saw-frames and axe-handles.) The milky jijice of the leaves is corrosive. 

 It_hlisters the skin dreadfully. In Jaonsar Bawar it is rubbed on thread, to 

 strengthen it. '~""^ 



I foUow Decandolle and Royle _(IU. 175) in uniting the Indian tree with 

 the Varnish-tree of Japan (S. Vernix, Linn. ; Thunberg Fl. Japon, 121). I do 

 so, however, with great reluctance, for I feel assured that they are not the 

 sarde species. Wallich's name, H. jiK/landifolia, had unfortimately been anti- 

 cipated by Willdenow for a species from New Granada. I have therefore no alter- 

 native, as it does not appear to me expedient to found a new name on the ma- 

 terials at present available to me. The leaves of the Japanese specimens are 

 less tomentose, and the flowers are pedicellate, in lax panicles, longer than 

 half -the length of leaf I have not seen specimens from Japan in fruit, 

 ' but Gartner's and Kampfer's description seems to show that the pericarp 

 does not spUt as it does in the Indian tree. Nor is the Himalayan tree known 

 to yield any varnish. Gartner (Fruct. i. p. 205, t. 44) describes the fruit 

 of the Japanese tree as "drupa exsuoca, turgide lenticularis, rotundo-rhom- 

 boidea : vertice acuminate, oblique, excentrico. Cortex (the pericarp) crassus, 

 fibroso-fungosus, superficie Isevigatissima, splendente, spadiceo-lutea." Ksemp- 

 fer Amoenitates exoticse (1712), p. 791, describes the tree under the Japanese 

 name Siiz-dsju and Urus-no-M, and' says, " Fructus facie ao magnitudine 

 cioeris, membranula tenui mioante vestitus, per maturitatem diirissinius et ob- 

 soleti coloris." 



In Japan the Varnish-tree appears to be cultivated as coppice-wood. Kamp- 

 fer states that the varnish is obtained by incisions in stems three years old, these 

 are cut down when exhausted, and the tree shoots up again. In Kampfer's time the 

 varnish, obtained from this tree was considered superior to the varnish from China 

 and Siam {Melanorlicea usitatissima ?), and was often mixed with the inferior 

 kinds. Candles are made in Japan of the wax roxmd the fruit. 



7. E. succedanea, L. ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 98 ; Wight Ic. t. 560.— Syn. 

 R. acuminata, DC. Prodr. ii. 268. Vern. Tatri, arkol, arkJiar, Utar{i), 

 lakhar, nkhul, Pb. ; Shash, Kunawar ; Fdsi-no-M, Japan. (Ksempfer, 

 Amoen. exoticse, p. 794.) 



Glabrous. Leaves approximate at the ends of branches, 6-12 in. long, 

 imparipinnate ; petiole round, naked ; leaflets opposite, 3-6 pair, 2-4 in. 

 long, petiolulate from unequal base, oblong-lanceolate, entire, long-acumin- 



