Wrightia.] LIV. APOCYNE^. 325 



lous, slender follicles, 10-20 in. long, cohering at tlie top only, with 

 elevated longitudinal lines, otherwise smooth. Var. a. tinctoria ; glab- 

 rous. ^. Rothii ; pubescent, leaves rough when old. 



Common in the Peninsula, ascendmg to 4000 ft. (a and j3). From Central 

 India 8 only, with rough leaves, is known. Bassi forests in Meywar, Nag- 

 pahar between Ajmir and Pokur (D.B.) ; Banda, Edgeworth. Leaves are shed 

 Feb., reappear in March-April, with the flowers. Fruit ripens ensuing C.S. 

 Wood pure white, close- and even-grained, valued highly for turning and 

 carving. _ The leaves yield Indigo (Eoxb.) The seeds are sold as the sweet 

 {niiiho^ indarjauva. the bazaars ; they are not bitter. 



W. cocdnea, Sims. Bot. Mag. t. 2696 ; Wight lo. t. 442 ; a large tree with 

 dark-crimson flowers, 2 in. across, solitary 3 or 6 together, from the Kasia 

 hiUs, is occasionally grown in gardens iu Northern India. Wood white, light, 

 but firm, used for palkeea. 



7. ALSTONIA, E. Brown. 



Trees, rarely shrubs ; leaves entire, verticiUate or opposite. Calyx 

 without scales or glands. Corolla -tube cylindrical, lobes spreading, 

 shorter than tube, twisted towards the right before expansion. Corona 

 wanting. Stamens included, inserted half-way up the tube, or higher. 

 Ovary of 2 distinct carpels, united by the style ; stigma thickened ; 

 ovules numerous. Fruit of 2 distinct long linear follicles. Seed oblong, 

 compressed, peltate, the edge with a dense fringe of long hairs all round ; 

 albumen scanty, radicle superior, cotyledons oblong, flat. 



1. A. scholaris, E. Brown ; Wight Ic. t. 422 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 242. 

 — Syn. A. cuneata, Wall. Sans. Ayugma, chhada, ayuk chhada. Vern. 

 Ghatiun, satiun, chutian, satmn, satni {Taunmayohen, Burm.) 



A large tree, with bitter milky juice ; glabrous, inflorescence only pubes- 

 cent. Leaves coriaceous, shining above, opaque and pale underneath, 

 in whorls of 5-7, oblong or obovate-oblong, obtuse, rarely acute, 4-8 

 in. long, narrowed into a short petiole ; main lateral nerves numerous, 

 parallel, transverse. Flowers greenish-white, sessile or shortly pedicellate, 

 in compact many-flowered pedunculate cymes. Peduncles 1-2 in. long ; 

 cymes 8-12 arranged in a pedunculate umbel, and the umbels forming 

 whorls in the axUs of the terminal whorl of leaves. Calyx and corolla 

 pubescent. Follicles slender, numerous, in hanging clusters. 



Sub-Himalayan tract, extending west to the Jumna, and ascending to 3000 

 ft. Scarce in the Oudh forests. Bengal, western side of the Peninsula, Burma, 

 Ceylon, Indian Archipelago, Queensland, tropical Africa. Fl. Dec. -March ; 

 fruit Jane. Growth apparently rapid. 



Attains 40-60, at times 80-90 ft., with a tall stem, often with a fluted or but- 

 tressed base, and spreading branches in tiers of whorls. . Bark dark grey, rough, 

 but not cracked. Wood whitish, even-grained, somewhat porous and open, 

 soft and light, 40 lb. per cub. ft. Easily worked ; used for furniture, boxes, 

 scabbards, school-boards, and for beams in Assam. Wood and bark are bitter ; 

 the bark is officinal as an astringent tonic, anthelmintic, and antiperiodic (Pharm. 

 Ind 137). 



