258 FOREST TREES. 



Portia tree, — Hwcarasi — to wliich there is some 

 resemblance in outline and texture. "Wood soft, 

 wliite, used in Northern India to make the cylinders 

 of native drums. The bark of the root has cura- 

 tive properties, and is said to be efficacious in the 

 treatment of gout. It is perhaps locally used in 

 the form of a poultice. The dioecious flowers appear 

 a few days in advance of the young leaves, and are 

 the first outward indication of returning growth. 

 The pedicels of the male flower are so short that the 

 drooping inflorescence reminds one of the catkins of 

 a willow tree. Fruit fleshy or nearly woody, the 

 size of a gooseberry, exceedingly abundant and fall- 

 ing thickly to the ground for upwards of a month. 



Cultivation. — Deposited in small heaps of sweep- 

 ings and rubbish, the seeds soon germinate, nor are 

 they unfertile when sown in nursery beds according 

 to approved methods. This would make a good 

 shade tree for country roads were it not for the fall- 

 ing fruit, which litters the ground and causes a 

 nuisance. To rjbtain full growth, this large tree 

 should be planted at -50 feet apart. 



515 Mallotus philippinensis, Muell. Kan. Kun. 

 kiimada mara, Chandra hittu, Huli chellu, Vasare. 



Fig —Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 289. Bentl. & Trim.' t. 

 336. 



References— Pharm. Ind. ; Bid. of Econ. 

 Prod, of Ind. 



The Kamala dye tree. Small, or at best medium 

 sized, evergreen, except in abnormally dry seasons 

 when the leaves are all shed for a short time. The 

 species is very abundant in some parts of the mixed 

 zone lying nearest to the evergreen belt, and is de- 

 tected by its peculiar musty odour when the fruit is 

 forming. The latter begins to be covered from an 

 early stage by a glandular powder of a bright crim- - 

 son colour. Shaken from the ripe fruit, on cloths. 



