MESTJA COROMANDELINA. (Nat. order Guttiferse ; Tribe CalophylleiB.) 



MeSUA. Linn. Gen. PL 1. 176.— GEN. CHAR. Flowers hermathrodite, sepals i, petals 4, stamens numerous free or connate at the very base, 

 filaments filiform, anthers erect oblong 2 celled dehiscing longitudinally, ovary 2 celled, style elongate, stigma peltate, ovules 2 in each cell erect, fruit from 

 fleshy to nearly woody one celled from the obliteration of the dissipiment, 2 valved 1-4 seeded, seed exarillate, cotyledons thick fleshy, radicle very small. 

 Trees, leaves simple oblong lanceolate very shining above, glaucous beneath, flowers large white axillary or terminal solitary. 



MeSUA COEOMANDELINA. (Wight.) Leaves narrow lanceolate ending in a long tapering blunt point, shining 

 above pale or more or less glaucous beneath, 2|-3| inches long by 1-1£ broad, petioles | of an inch long, flowers axillary and terminal 

 about 1|- inch across when fully expanded, peduncles shorter than the petioles. Wight I cones PL 117. Mesua ferrea, W. A. Prod. p. 

 102 (Excl. syn.) Mesua pulchella, Planch, et Triaw, a Ceylou tree, is very closely allied. 



This is a very handsome tree common in most of the mountain, forests on the western side of our Presidency, growing with its congenerM. 

 speciosa, from which it is readily known by Us much smaller leaves and flowers ; it is generally known by the name of JVaghd, or Ndghd Champa, 

 and is called Nangal and H allay Ndngal in Tamil,' and on the Tinnevelly ghats, where it is very abundant and its timber much in use ; it is called 

 Nir Nang to distinguish it from Mesua speciosa which is called Nang. All the Mesuas have a very hard heavy reddish colored timber known as Pton 

 wood and perhaps the hardest and heaviest timber in India, axemen dislike very much to fell them, as they turn the edge of their axes, the vjood is 

 most valuable for engineering purposes and is largely used in Ceylon, and this species is much in use with the natives in Tinnevelly, and is looked 

 upon as one of their best timbers, but in the Wynad and other parts, where it is also abundant, it is not utilised and seems hardly to be known. 



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