128 XXIX. ANACAEDIACEiE. [Buchanam'a. 



tastes somewhat like pistachio-nuts ; it is an im230rtant article of trade, being 

 used largely in native sweetmeats. Oil is extracted from it. 



7. SPONDIAS, Liilu. 



Trees, ■with alternate, imparipinnate leaves, without stipules, and 

 small flowers in terminal, spreading panicles. Calyx small, 4-5-lobed. 

 Petals as many, valvate or imhrieate in bud. Stamens twice the num- 

 ber of petals, inserted under the plicate or crenate disc ; anthers versa- 

 tile. Carpels 4-5, at first distinct, afterwards coalescing ; styles as many 

 as carpels ; ovules solitary, pendulous. Fruit a fleshy drupe, with a bony, 

 2-5-celled, 2-5-seeded kernel. Embryo straight, with plano-convex coty- 

 ledons. 



1. S. Mangifera, Pers. ; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 451 ; W. & A. Prodr. 173 ; 

 Wight 111. t. 76 ; BeJd. Fl. Sylv. t. 169.— Hog-plum. Sans. Amrdtaha, 

 Icapitana. Vern. Amra, amara, ambard, amur, baliamh, ambodha. 

 {Kwayhen, Burm.) 



Glabrous. Leaves near extremities of branches, 12-20 in. long ; leaflets 

 opposite, about 5 pair, short-petiolulate, eUiptic-oblong, acuminate, with 

 10-30 parallel, nearly straight, lateral nerves on either si,de of midrib, 

 joined at the ends by a prominent nerve running parallel with the edge 

 and close under it, and reticulate veins between. Flowers white, nearly 

 sessile, bisexual, pentamerous, fasciculate, on large, erect, diffuse, and thin 

 panicles. Petals 5, oblong, spreading. Disc fleshy, notched. Filaments 

 subulate, shorter than petals. Drupe ovoid, smooth, fleshy, yellow when 

 ripe, about 1| in. long; kernel woody, tough, fibrous outside, and rough 

 with irregular furrows and cavities. Seeds 1-3. The flowers of this sp. 

 seem always to be bisexual, but a few only set fruit. 



Common, but not everywhere, in dry forests of many parts of India and 

 Burma. Its north-western limit seems to be the Salt range iu the Panjab. 

 Scarce in the Central Provinces. One of the first trees to shed its leaves 

 (Nov.), and the last to renew them, often not until the rains 'have set in. 

 The mature foliage is bright green, with a peculiar smell when bruised. 

 Fl. in April ; the fruit ripens in the ensuing cold season. 



In North India a small tree, 25 ft. high, 4 ft. girth ; in South India and 

 Burma a large tree. Bark thick, whitish- or brownish-grey, undulated with 

 short longitudinal, generally shaUow vsrinkles. Wood soft, coarse-grained, use- 

 less. A mild tasteless gum exudes from wounds made in the bark in spring. 

 The ripe fruit has an astringent, acid, and turpentine taste, but is eaten, and 

 is pickled. Deer eat it greedily, and heaps of the hard kernels are found every- 

 where in the forests where this tree grows. 



Coriaria nepalemis, Wall. PI. As. rar. t. 289. Vern. Massuri (at Mussoori, 

 whence the name), mahola (Kamaon) is a shrub, belonging to the small order 

 of GoriariecB, with quadrangular branohlets, opposite, ovate, .3-7-nerved leaves, 

 racemose pentamerous flowers, 10 stamens, and 5 distinct, 1-seeded carpels, 

 attached to a conical torus, the petals enlarged after flowering, with a sharp 

 keel inside, which is inserted in the interstices between the carpels. It is 

 found in the Himalaya, between 2500 and 7500 ft. elevation, from near the 

 Indus to Bhxitan. The branches are browsed by sheep. The fruit is eaten but 



