N. O. LEGUMINOS^. 457 



A large shrub, sometimes scandent. Bark blackish-grey, 

 rough, vertically fissured. Wood brownish-white, in alternate 

 bands of varying width of woody and bast texture and with 

 a dark-red, hard centre (Gamble). "A rigid, wiry, scrambling 

 shrub " says Brandis, " with soft, silvery white wood, armed 

 with stout divaricating branchlets, ending in pungent spines." 

 Talbot thus describes the plant : — " A stiff, erect, glabrous shrub, 

 with horizontal branches, spine-tipped at the ends." Entirely 

 glabrous. Leaves fascicled on the node of branches ; leaflets 

 7-11, often nearly opposite, ovate-oblong, i-Jin. long. Flowers 

 yellowish- white, in congested, sessile, axillary panicles; pedicels 

 short. Calyx j^in. long, minutely downy, teeth short, obtuse. 

 Corolla twice as long as the Calyx. Stamens 10in., a single 

 sheath, sometimes in 2 separate sheaths of 5 each. Pod lin. 

 lorg, reniform, coriaceous, flat, 1-seeded, brown, glabrous. 



Use : — The roots powdered absorb alcohol, and a spoonful 

 of the powder in a tumblerful of water is- said to be sufficient to 

 destroy, in less than half an hour, the effects of alcohol, even in 

 cases bordering on delirium tremens (Kurz). 



405. Pterocarpus santalinus, Linn. Fil. h.f.b.l, 

 ii. 239, Roxb. 536. 



Sans. : — Raktachandana. 



Vern ; — Ragat-chandan, lalchandan, nudum (H.) ; Rakta- 

 chandan (B.); Shenshandannum, segappo-shandanum (Jam.); 

 Erragandhapuchekka, kuchandanum (Tel.) ; Kempu-gandha 

 (Kan.); Ooruttah chundanum (Mai.); Lal-chundan (Dec); 

 Raktachandan, ratanjli (Bomb.). 



Habitat :— South India, chiefly Cuddapah, North Arcot and 

 the southern portion of the Karnool District. 



A smooth tree, attaining 25ft. Bark blackish-brown, deeply 

 cleft, both vertically and horizontally into rectangular plates. 

 Wood extremely hard. Sapwood white, heartwood dark, 

 claret-red to almost black, but always with a red tinge, orange- 

 red when fresh cut, the shavings giving an orange-red colour. 

 Branches obscurely grey-downy. Leaflets 3, rarely 4 or 5, 



broad-elliptic, obtuse, U-3in. long, underside pale and clothed 

 58 



