318 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



bud. Staminal-tube 8-10-fid. Segments bidentate. Anthers 

 between the subulate teeth of segments. Capsule J-|in. diam. 

 Valves 2, broad, obtuse. Seed enclosed in a thin white arillus. 

 Testa orange, brown afterwards.. 



Use:— The bark and leaves possess bitter and' tonic 

 principles (Duthic). 



271. Carapa moluccensis, Lam, h. f. b. i., 

 i. 567. 



Syn. : — C. obovata, S/., Xylocarpus granatum, Koen. 

 Vern ' — Poshiir, pussur (B.) ; Kandalanga (Tam.j 

 Habitat : — Aluddy sea-coasts, throughout India and Ceylon. 

 Tn Ceylon ' mangrove swamps, on the west coast ; rather rare. 

 Trim en says. " This is called the common ball tree from the 

 great spherical hard fruit." The Sinhalese name is Muclu- 

 nelun ; but is generally reckoned with mangroves and called, 

 like them, Kadol. 



An ever green tree, all parts glabrous. Bark thin, grey, 

 peeling off in regular flakes. Wood red, hard ; sapwood lighter. 

 Pores small to moderate sized, often subdivided, scanty. Medul- 

 lary rays prominent, fine, numerous, uniform and equidistant 

 Annual rings distinctly marked by a continuous belt of pores, 

 and a dark line (Gamble). Stem 25-40ft. high, clear stem 

 8-20ft. long, girth 4-6ft. Leaves abruptly pinnate, or occasion- 

 ally simple, the smooth rachis brown or red ; leaflets in 2 or a 

 single pair, rarely the one or other solitary ovate to obovate 

 oblong, narrowed at base, very shortly petioluled, round or 

 retuse at the apex, 3-4in. long, entire, fleshy, coriaceous when 

 fresh, glossy on both sides. Flowers pinkish yellow (Trimen), 

 rather small, nearly 4 in. in diam., on 3-4 in. long, thick 

 pedicels, forming meagre, short, glabrous panicles or recemes 

 in axils of the leaves. Calyx 4-cleft, the lobes rotundate. 

 Petals 4, about 2 in. long. Staminal-tube 8-lobed. Capsule 

 globose, as large as a small shaddok, or smaller, apiculate, 

 containing 5-6 very large angular brown seeds. (Kurz Fl. 



