2S2 FOREST TR^ES. 



the seasoned wood. At Kankanhalli and elsewhere, 

 combs are popularly made from it. Although dis- 

 tinctly deciduous in the drier tracts, trees that are 

 well placed in regard to moisture are rarely quite 

 bare of leaf, a circumstance which is easily over- 

 looked from the fact that the flowers and young 

 leaves burst forth together on the approach of the 

 first rains. 



Cultivation.— Seeds produced on local trees have 

 not germinated, but as Brandis remarks that the 

 species is easily raised from seed, there must be 

 some error in local treatment. When planted in a 

 deep alluvial soil, at 40 feet apart, the Gmelina 

 arborea becomes an excellent roadside tree. , It is 

 not however recommended where the soil is poor 

 and stony. 



455 Vitex Negundo, Linn. Kan. NekMiu, LakMi, 



Leckee. 



Fig.— Bot. Plates Lal-Bagh Collection. Wight 



Ic. t. 519. 

 "References.— Did. of Econ. Prod, of Ind.; 



Pharm. Ind. ; Fl. of Brit. Ind. 



The chaste tree. Seldom attaining to more than 

 a shrub in the drier parts of country, and very 

 abundant in lanes and hedgerows. Leaves and 

 young branchlets hoary underneath, which gives the 

 foliage a pretty effect when moved by the wind. 

 Often used as small fuel, but not for wattle-work, in 

 at least the maidan portion of Mysore. The leaves 

 are commonly used in the peasants' houses as an in- 

 secticide, a,nd in fomentation to swellings, headache, 

 and such like. The species is very abundant in 

 Mysore and Ooorg, where it mostly affects the dry 

 subalpine region, increasing ia stature as it approach- 

 es the Ghats. There are two varieties designated 

 the black— Zan—and white — Bili — as indicated 

 by the prevailing colour of the foliage. Medicinal 

 virtues are attributed to the leaves, root, and fruit. 



