Terminalia.] XXXVI. COMBRETACE^. 225 



very hard. Weight, 48-54 lb. per cub. ft. Value of P. 806-820. Apt to split 

 in seasoning, not easy to work ; used for carts, agricultural implements, and 

 building. The bark, sold in the bazaars of South India, is in great repute as a 

 tonic, and for external use on wounds. 



4. T. tomentosa, W. & A. Prodr. 314; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 17.— Syn. 

 T. crenulata and coriacea, W. & A. Prodr. 1. c. ; Pentaptera crenulata, 

 coriaeea, and tomentosa, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 438-440. Sans. Asana. Vern. 

 Sain, assain, assaina, arsain, asna, assan, N.W. Ind. ; Ain, ayin, Boml). ; 

 Saj, sijra, C.P. ; Mard marra, Gonds, C.P. ; Sag, hag, Sdder, Saddr, 

 Sddri, hadri, Nimar, Guzerat, and adjoining parts of Meywar ; Matti, kari 

 matti, Ganar. ; Taukkyan, Burm. 



A large tree, with, a tall, regularly-shaped trunk. Bark rough, black, 

 deeply cracked ; young branches, inflorescence, and young leaves clothed 

 with short, rust-coloured pubescence. Leaves hard, coriaceous, oblong or 

 ovate, rarely obovate-oblong, 5-9 in. long, on short petioles, with 1-2 

 glands near the base of the midrih, soft-tomentose beneath or glabrous 

 on both sides when full-grown ; main lateral nerves arcuate, 10-20 on 

 either side of midrib ; the top leaves near the end of the branch gener- 

 ally alternate, the lower leaves subopposite. Flowers of a dull yellow 

 colour, in erect terminal panicles, the lower branches in the axils of leaves. 

 Bracts lanceolate, longer than buds. Free part of calyx-tube flat cup- 

 shaped, hairy within, with 5 broad ovate acute segments. (Fl. all bisex- 

 ual, Eoxb.) Fruit 1^-2 in. long, with 5 broad, coriaceous, brown wings, 

 f-1 in. broad, and as long as the fruit, marked with numerous, closely 

 parallel, horizontal, prominent lines, running from the axis to the edges ; 

 edges of wings thin, -irregularly crenulate. There is a marked variety with 

 (always ?) drooping branchlets, larger broad-ovate leaves, and very large 

 fruit, 2 in. long, which merits further study. I have found it in Burma 

 and (April 1863) in the Gudh forests between the Mohan and Sarda rivers, 

 and it has been noticed in Kamaon and elsewhere. The bark, however, 

 is the same as that of the ordinary form with oblong leaves. 



A common tree iu the moister regions of India. In the SiwaUk tract and 

 outer Himalayan valleys it goes west as far as the Ravi, and in places ascends 

 to 4000 ft. In Western India its limit appears to be in the forests south-west 

 of Neemuch, where several places (Sadri, Bara Sadri, Chota Sadri) seem to have 

 derived their names from it. It is also found on the western edge of the Malwa 

 table-land, east of the Bunass river (Bassi forests). East and south of these 

 points it extends throughout Central, Eastern, Southern India, and Burma. 

 Thrives best m heavy binding soils. Fl. April. The fruit ripens in Feb. -April of 

 the ensuing year. Coppices fairly well. The tree bears long-continued pollard- 

 ing. In the Sattara district along the line of Ghats, and east of the narrow belt 

 of evergreen forest which fringes the edge of the Ghats, there is a broader belt 

 of forest, mainly composed of deciduous trees, from 10-15 miles wide, where the 

 system of cidtivation has been for centuries periodically to cut the under\\'oo(i, 

 but to leave a certain number of standard trees, which are pollarded, every|gp| 

 the underwood is cut. The underwood is burnt with the branches of the pol- 

 lards, and the ashes serve to fertilise the fields. The hills in that portion of 

 the district are thus studded with numerous huge pollards, principally of Ter- 

 minalia tomentosa, bellerica, Careya arhorea, and Lagerstrcmia lanceolata , 



P 



