DALBERGIA LATIFOLIA. (Nat. ord. Leguminosse ; Sub-ord. Papilionacese ; Tribe Dalbergieee.) 



DALBERGIA. (L. f. Suppl. 52.) Gen. PI. 544.— GEN. CHAR. Calyx campanulate 5-toothed, the 2 superior teeth broader, vexillum ovate 

 or orbicular, wings oblong free, keel petals free or connate above, stamens 9-10 all connate into one sheath or the vexillum stamen free 9 and 1 or ieadelpkous 

 5-5, anthers small erect didymous, the cells opening at the top or rarely longitudinally, ovary stalked, few ovuled, style incurved small, stigma small 

 terminal, legume oblong or linear thin flat and indehiscent, often wrinkled and thickened about the seed ; seeds 1 or rarely 2-4, large thin and flat in the 

 centre of the pod. Trees or woody climbers, leaves alternate pinnate, the leaflets alternate with a terminal odd one (very rarely 1 foliate), flowers small in 

 dichotomous cymes or irregular panicles. 



JL'ALBERGIA LATIFOLIA, (Eoxb,) A very large timber tree, trunk erect though rarely straight, rising to a great height 

 and of veryjarge girth, brauches spreading, very numerous, forming a large shady head, leaves alternate pinnate with an odd one 6-9 

 inches long, leaflets 3-7 generally 5 alternate, the exterior ones largest and roundish, emarginate, a little waved above, smooth, covered 

 with a little whitish down beneath, at length glabrous, about 2 inches long and the same broad, petioles round smooth ^ to |- an inch 

 long, panicles axillary terminal glabrous or minutely hoary, flowers small white on short slender pedicels, calyx segments oblong more 

 or less obtuse, petals unquiculate, stamens 9 monadelphous, style subulate, stigma small, nearly as long as the ovary, ovary stalked, 3-7 

 ovuled, legume stalked, oblong lanceolate usually 1-seeded. lioxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 221, and Dalbergia emarginata, I. c. p. 224 ; — W. A^ 

 Prod. p. 264. 



This is the well-known blackwood or rosewood tree. Ii is found throughout Ike Madras Presidency, Mysore, Coorg, Bombay, Central 

 India, and parts of Bengal, SiMim, and in the Andaman Islands; it grows to a very large size on the mountains, particularly on the western side 

 of our Presidency ; and 1 have measured trees considerably over 20 feet in girth; it is generally known in our western forests ly the Tamil name 

 Eetee, and on the eastern side by the Ttlugoo names Jitegee and Yerugudu, and in Mysore and South Canara by the Canarese names Biti and 

 Thoddgatti, and in Bengal it is called Sit Sal. It is not found in Ceylon, nor I believe in Birmah. It ascends the mountains to nearly 4,000 

 feet, and grows equally well in the dry deciduous forests with teak, and in the moist evergreen sholas,and is open associated with bamboo. The 

 timber is one of the most valuable in India, and generally fetches a higher price than teak; it is very heavy, strong, fibrous, close-grained and 

 durable; it differs much in color but is generally purple-black ; it admits of a very fine polish, and is our best furniture wood, and extensively used for 

 Gun-carriage purposes. It grows readily from seed but is of very slow growth, particularly when young. The Forest Department have had plantations 

 of it for some years in South Canara and Malabar, but the plants are still very small : self-sown seedlings are generally to be met with about Coffee 

 Estates in our western forests; the tree flowers in March and April. 



The Dalbergia sissoides (Graham), common about the forests of the Coimbalore district, Palghat, the Anamallays, Madura and 

 Tinnevelly, is a smaller tree than that of D. latifolia. The wood is generally of a redder color, and the tree flowers in the rainy season (July), 

 instead of the hot weather ; it is always distinguished by the Palghat axmen as the Eeruputu, the D. latifolia being called Eetee (Dr. Wight- 

 transposes these native names). 1 cannot however distinguish the two trees botanically; the flowers of the sissoides are said to be rather larger and 

 the leaves narrower, but these differences are not constant, and the same drawing might answer jor either tree : 1 cahnoi therefore look upon 

 sissoides as more than a variety of latifolia. 



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