N. 0. ROSACiE. 521 



466. Prinsepia utilis, Royle. h.f.b.i,, ii. 323. 



Vern.: — Bhekal, karanga, cherra jhatela (H.) ; Gurinda 

 (Hazara) ; Jinti (Chenab) ; Bekling (Kanawarj ; Chirara, jhatela, 

 dhatela, phalawa bhekla, dintili, bhekra, bhekala (Kuuiaon). 



Habitat: — Dry rocky hills on the temperate Himalayas, from 

 Hazara to Sikkim and Bhotan, and the Khasia Mts. 



A deciduous, thorny shrub, glabrous, youngest shoots very 

 pubescent, spines green, axillary, often leaf-bearing. Bark thin 

 brown, peeling off in small vertical flakes ; under bark orange. 

 Wood red, very hard and compact, close and even-grained, but 

 much liable to split ; pith large, separating when dry into hori- 

 zontal layers. Leaves lanceolate, entire or serrate, l-5in., coria- 

 ceous, acuminate. Flowers ^in. diam. ; white, in short racemes, 

 generally at the base of spines. Calyx- tube cup-shaped, lobes 

 5, unequal imbricate in bud ; petals rounded, claw short, sta- 

 mens numerous, inserted below the petals in several rows, 

 auther-cells separated by a broad connective. Carpel one, 

 sessile, ovules 2, collateral. Fruit an oblique, oblong-cylindrical, 

 fleshy purple Drupe, J-fin., subtended by the withered calyx. 

 Scar of style basal, endocarp coriaceous. Seed only one. 



Use : — This shrub yields an oil, used as a rubefacient and as 

 an application in rheumatism and pains from over-fatigue 

 (Atkinson.) 



The seeds of this shrub, known as Bhekul. yield an oil by expression which 

 is used in the North- West Himalaya for food, illuminating, and occasionally 

 in medicine. It is said to be exported in small quantities from Garhwal and 

 Kumaon. There are two samples in the Indian Museum ; one from the Kangra 

 Valley of a bright green colour, and the other from Bashahr in the Punjab, 

 opaque and light brown in colour. In specific gravity, iodine value and 

 melting point of the insoluble fatty acids, the oils resemble that derived 

 from cotton seed. 



467. Rubus moluecanus, Linn, h.f.b.i., ii. 330, 

 Roxb. 408. 



Vern.: — Bipem-Kanta (Nepal); Sufokji (Lepcha) ; Katsol 

 (Kumaon) . 



Habitat : — Central and Eastern tropical and temperate Hima- 

 laya ; Nepal ; Sikkim ; Assam ; Khasia Mts, Eastern Peninsula. 

 Western Peninsula, on the Ghats from Bombay southward. 



