200 



gouty stems sometimes being 3 feet in diameter and forming an 

 effective barrier to canoe men (Mahon, Mus. Kew — he translates the 

 native name '• Malinda " as " wait a bit " because the spiny branches 

 catch the clothes of the natives) ; grows abundantly in marshes and 

 by streams along nearly the whole coast of Angola, where it is stated 

 not to exceed 20 or at the most 25 feet in height, the trunk at the 

 base measuring 6-16 inches in diameter (Hiern, Cat. Welw. Afr. 

 PI. i. pp. 233, 234). It grows very quickly. 



Re/.— " The Ambach Wood of the Soudan," in Bull. Imp. Inst. ii. 



1904, pp. 225-227. " Herminiera Elaphroxylon, Guill. et Perr." in 



Les Vegetaux Utiles de L'Afrique Tropicale Franchise, Chevalier, iii. 

 pp. 108-110 (Challamel, Paris, 1907). 



AESCHYNOMENE, Linn. 



Aeschynomene aspera, Linn. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 147. 



111.— Wight, Ic. PI. Ind. or. i. t. 299 ; Ralph, Ic. Carp. t. 36, f. 21 

 (after Wight, Ic. I.e.). 



Vernac. names. — Shola or Sola (India, Watt). — Soft sola-pith 

 plant. 



Lagos and West Africa in general, extending to Angola and 

 Zambesiland. Found also in India, Burma, &c. 



The soft pith-like wood is used to make helmets, floats, fancy 

 articles such as artificial flowers, &c. The topis or sun hats of India 

 are made of this material, sometimes exported to Europe in a 

 finished or partly finished state from Bengal. 



In India the leaves are sometimes eaten as a pot-herb, and an oil is 

 extracted from the seeds, which is used in the treatment of cramp 

 and pain in the side (Watt, Agric. Ledger, No. 6, 1902, p. 152). 



Grows as a floating bush on land annually inundated, or within the 

 margins of tanks throughout Bengal and the greater part of Assam, 

 usually in 2-4 or 6 feet of water ; not cultivated, but at certain 

 seasons of the year the upper portions bearing pods are cut and 

 thrown on the water the seeds thus becoming self-sown (Watt, 

 Comm. Prod. India, p. 29) ; in marshy palm groves and thickets 

 along the banks of the river Cuanza, Pungo Andongo (Hiern, Cat. 

 Welw. Afr. PI. i. p. 234). 



Eef. — "Aeschynomene: The Sola-Pith Plant," Watt, in Agric. 

 Ledger, no. 6, 1902, pp. 149-154, a review of existing information. 

 — ~ l Note sur le Sola or Aeschynomene aspera" Achard, in L'Agric. 



prat, pays chauds, vi. 2, 1906, pp. 248-250. " Aeschynomene 



aspera" in Comm. Prod. India, Watt, pp. 28-30. 



Aeschynomene indica, Linn. ; Fi. Trop. Afr. II. p. 147. 



III.— Rumpf. Amb. iv. t. 24 ; Rheede, Hort. Mai. ix. t, 18 ; Wight, 

 Ic. PI. Ind. Or. ii. t. 405. 



Vernac. names. — Sola (India). — Hard sola-pith plant. 



West Africa, India, Burma, &c. 



Used like the preceding, except that being harder it is not so well 

 adapted to the manufacture of fancy or delicate articles. The main 

 part of some of the Indian topis are made of this pith, with merely 

 a covering of the whiter and softer pith of A. aspera. 



It is extensively used in India for making elephant pads, a useful 

 fuel with the reputation of being of special value in firing pottery, 

 and the charcoal made of it is used in the manufacture of gun- 

 powder and fireworks (Watt, Agric. Ledger, No. 6, 1902, p. 153). 



