ELiEODENDRON KOXBURGHII. (Nat. order Celastrineje.) 



ELJ30DENDRON. Jacq. fil.~ GEN. CHAR. Flowers polygamous or hermathrodite, calyx 4 or 5 (rarely 3) cleft, petals as many as the calyx 

 segments spreading, disk thick fleshy angled, stamens as many as the petals inserted under the edge of the disk, filaments subulate, anthers nearly globular 

 dehiscing longitudiually, ovary more or less deeply immersed or confluent with the disk 2-3 (rarely 4-5) celled, style very short, ovules 2 in each cell, drupe 

 dry or succulent, the putamen 1-3 celled, cells 1-2-seeded, arillus none, te3ta membranaceous or spongy, albumen scanty or copious, cotjledons flat. Trees 

 or shrubs, usually quite glabrous, leaves coriaceous opposite or alternate entire or crenate, flowers small yellowish greenish or white in axillary cymes or 

 umbels. — Neerija, Roxb, Schrebera, Retx. Rubentia, Commers. Portenschlagia, Trattinick, Crocoxylon and Mystroxylon, Echl, 



El^EODENDRON ROXBUKGHII. (WA.) A tree often of great size, leaves opposite and alternate elliptical to 

 ovate or even subrotundate, generally bluntly crenated sometimes sharply serrated, very coriaceous, glabrous and shining above, 3-4J 

 inches long by 1|--2| broad, petioles \ to 1 inch long, cymos axillary often lax with or without a solitary caducous flower in the forks ; 

 f rom £rd as long to nearly as long as the leaves, flowera yellowish or green 4-5-merous, ovary 2-celled, drupe obovoid with a 1-celled 

 putamen. WA. Prod. p. 157. Neerija dichotoma, Roxb. Fl. Ind. 1. p. 647. Eheodendron paniculatum, WA. Prod. p. 157. 



This tree is found throughout this Presidency and in Bombay and Bengal, it is most variable as to size, and in the size, shape and 

 margin of the leaves. In the dry Seegoor forests about the foot of the Nilgiris it is Jound of immense girth, and in the moist forests of the 

 Anamallays at 2000 feet elevation it is a very large tree, again in the Coimbatore plains it is met with as only a shrub iciih sharply serrated 

 leaves (but differing in no other way) ; the tree is called Karkavd and Irkuli in Tamil, Nirija and Neradi in Teligu, and Tamrooj on the Bombay 

 ghats ; the wood is not very strong or stiff, but is tough, close and even grained, and the surface beautifully curled and flowered and of a reddish 

 brown color, and suited for cabinet work ; it is used by the natives for the manufacture of combs, &c, and is suited for picture frames, <&c. ; a 

 cubic foot unseasoned weighs 60-65 lbs., and 46 lbs. when seasoned, and its specific gravity is -736 ; the root and bark are used medicinally by the 

 natives. 





Analysis. 



1. 



A bud. 



2&3. 



Pentamerous flowers, front and back view. 



4. 



Anthers. 



5. 



Ovary cut vertically. 



6. 



A 4-merous flower. 



7. 



Ovary cut horizontally. 



8. 



A fruit. 



9. 



The same cut vertically. 



10. 



The same cut horizontally. 



K — - 



148 



