SHOREA ROBUSTA. (Nat, ord. Dipterocarpese.) 



SHOREA. (Roxb.) Gen. PI. p. 1S3. — GEN. CHAR. Calyx tube very short adnate to the torus, not increasing in fruit, divisions ovafce or 

 lanceolate imbricate wing-like and all or 3 only enlarged in fruit, connivent over the fruit at the base. Stamens numerous or 15, anthers ovate or oblong, 

 rarely linear, connectivum subulato-cuspidate, cells obtuse or rarely cuspidate, valves equal or the exterior valve a little larger — ovary 3 celled, cell 2 ovuled, 

 style subulate, entire or 3 toothed at the apex, fruit coriaceous indehiscent; 1 seeded— seed ovoid, cotyledons thick fleshy unequal. Trees bearing resin, 

 glabrous or tomentose stipules persistent or deciduous, leaves entire or repand panicles axillary or terminal. 



CHOREA ROBUSTA. (Roxb.) Leaves short petioled cordato-oblong, 6-10 inches long by 4-6 inches broad, stipules falcate, 

 panicles terminal and axillary, stamens numerous, stigma 3 toothed. Roxb. Fl. Ind. p. ii. 615. 



An immense timber tree, abundant in the Godavery forests, the Gumsoor and Russelcondah forests, and in Bengal (the Tera.i, Parasnath 

 and Assam) and in Burmah ? but not known in the South of the Madras Presidency. In some of the Sal tracts in Gumsoor it grows almost to 

 the e-xclusion of every other tree and the natural forests often have the appearance of plantations — it flowers in March and April, and the seeds often 

 commence germinating before they leave the parent tree early in the rains and eventually come up very thickly in the forests. The tree grows very 

 straight and tall and sometimes reaches 10 or 12 feet in girth. The seed has a vitality of such short duration that all attempts to groro it in the 

 South have failed, though it was attempted several successive seasons — it is also rapidly bored by insects. The timber is one of the most valuable 

 in India for Engineering purposes and is largely used in Gun Carriage Manufactories and for many other purposes, such as house-building and 

 ship-building , but warps in plank — it lasts an immense time under ground or under water and is almost unequalled for sleepers, and seems quite 

 proof against white ants ; it is close grained, heavy and hard, of a light brown color — the bark is employed by tanners and yields an abundancy 

 of resin or dammer which is used as a substitute for pitch, and burnt by the natives as incense, and an aromatic oil is procured from the resin by 

 dry distillation. It is called Sal and Salwa in Gumsoor and Googul in the Godavery forests. I am not sure that the Birmese tree called Eingg-yin 

 is the same species. 



