N. O. PLATANACEiE. 1209 



A large, deciduous, aromatic tree, very nearly glabrous ; young 

 shoots toruentose. Bark grey, characteristically marked by deep, 

 vertical, parallel fissures, Jin. to 2in thick. Wood moderately 

 brown, with darker streaks, often beautifully mottled. (Gamble.) 

 Leaves imparipinnate, 6-12in., alternate. Leaflets 5-13 or 7-9, 

 odd one the larger, stalked, side ones opposite, sessile ovate- 

 oblong, 3-8in., pointed, entire. Flowers green, male and female 

 on the same tree, appearing with the leaves. Male flowers 

 numerous, in pendulous, lateral catkins, 2-5in., long, on the 

 previous year's wood above the leaf scars, often two superposed. 

 Perianth narrow, nearly flat, irregularly 5-lobed, combined with 

 the branch, the free tip of which appears on the underside. 

 Stamens 15-20, nearly sessile. Female flowers 1-3, clustered, 

 sessile, on the ends of branches ; the bracts combined in a 

 pubescent, ovoid involucre aduate to the ovary, its narrow mouth 

 obscurely 4-toothed ; perianth of 4 linear lanceolate lobes 

 inserted on the mouth of the involucre, alternate with its teeth. 

 Ovary 1-celled ; ovule 1. Style arms 2, short, broad, recurved, 

 roughly wrinkled. Drupe ovoid, 2in. long, the green, thick, 

 fleshy rind enclosing a woody wrinkled 2-valved nut ; the edible 

 part consisting of the large, corrugated, 4-lobed cotyledons of 

 the single seed. (Collett.) 



Uses : — The bark is used as an anthelmintic and detergent ; 

 the leaves are astringent and tonic, in decoction are supposed 

 to be specific in strumous sores, and to be anthelmintic ; the 

 fruit is also believed to have an alterative effect in rheumatism. 



The kernels afford by expression about 50 per cent, of a clear sweet oil, 

 largely used in the hills for culinary purposes and illumination. Stewart 

 states that a large proportion of the oil is prepared by simply bruising the 

 kernel between stones. The oil-cake is a good cattle-food. Walnut oil has 

 a yellow or orange-yellow colour with a slight odour oi' linseed and a nutty 

 flavour. Practical experiments show it to be a strong drying oil. Crossley 

 and Le Sueur (1898) testing a sample expressed in India found it to have 

 constants agreeing well with those previously recorded : Specific gravity at 

 15*5°, 09259 ; acid value, 10*07 ; saponification value, 1925 ; iodine value, 143'1 ; 

 Reichert Meissl value, 0*00; insoluble fatty acids, 95*44 per cent. (Agricul- 

 tural Ledger 1911-12, No. 5. p. 166). 



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