tt. 0. StMARUBEJL 285 



Habitat : — Western Peninsula, throughout the South Con can 

 and Malabar. Moist low country. Ceylon. 



A small glabrous tree, 30-35ft., with stout branches. " Bark 

 pale, transversely cracked. Wood light yellow, soft, no heart- 

 wood. Pores small, very scanty. Medullaiy rays very fine, 

 uniform, closely-packed " (Gamble). Leaves simple, 8 by 3in. 

 or larger, blunt, with short thick petioles, coriaceous, elliptic — 

 oblong, shining, quite entire. Flowers numerous, bisexual, 4- 

 merous, pinkish yellow, in dense pedunculate umbels, short- 

 stalked. Calyx small, thick, ciliated, persistent in fruit. 

 Petals narrowly oblong, often spiculate, f-lin. long. Stamens 

 twice as many as petals ; filaments, with a small hairy scale at 

 base, very long. Ovary on a gynophore, usually deeply lobed. 

 Fruit oval, l|in. by lin. (Bennett), of one carpel, thickly coriace- 

 ous, shining, compressed, keeled, 2 by 1 Jin. (Brandis.) 



Parts used : — The bark, leaves, seeds and oil. 



Use : — " The bark is used by the natives as a febrifuge. An 

 oil extracted from the kernels of the fruit forms a good applica- 

 tion in rheumatism. The bruised leaves are externally applied 

 in erysipelas. The seeds are worn round the neck as a prevent- 

 ive of asthma and chest affections. An infusion of the wood 

 is also taken as a general tonic" (Rheede and Drury). 



The root is used medicinally by the Singhalese. An in- 

 fusion of leaves is a good insecticide and destructive to white 

 ants (Trimen.) 



" An infusion of the wood is taken as a general tonic. This 



drug may well be used as a substitute for quassia" (Dymock . 



From the seeds were obtained :— (1) A fatty oil, forming 63 p. c. of the 

 whole, and consisting of triolein 88, tripalmitin 8, and tristearin 4 p. c; (2) a 

 proteid, soluble in alcohol and in water, and containing 18 p. c. of nitrogen ; 

 (3) sucrose ; (4) a sugar that reduces Fehling's solution directly ; (15) inositol ; 

 (6) a crystalline bitter substance.. 



From the bark :— (1) The same bitter substance as from the seeds; (2) 

 a crystalline bitter substance crystallising in yellow plates, probably an 

 anthraquinone derivative ; (3) a'tannic acid belonging to the group of phloro- 

 glucotannoids ; (4) ellago tannic acid ; (5) a tannic acid closely resembling 

 tannin ; (6) a large amount of inorganic salts. 



From the wood :— (1) A bitter substance crystallising in yellow, rhombic 

 prisms; (2) a bitter substance very closely allied to quassin. 



