AcEB.] SAPINDACE^. 181 



107. S. accumiuataj Wall; Boyle 111.139. Yevn. Bitha (Soap-nut tree 

 of N. India) . 



A tree. Leaves pinnate, crowded near the ends of the branches ; leaflets 

 10-16, shortly stalked, 2-6 in. long, lanceolate-oblong, alternate or sub- 



. opposite, acuminate or obtuse, glabrous, base oblique, obtuse, rachis 

 sometimes margined. Flowers in terminal and lateral obscurely tomen- 

 tose panicles, white or purple, ciliated. Petals 5, with a woolly scale on 

 each side at the top of the claw. UisTc glabrous, flat, with 5 elevated 

 radiating lines. Oi^-'ri/ 3-cornered, glabrous, i^cwit f in. in diam., sub- 

 globose, fleshy, glaucescent, saponaceous. 



Eoyle reported this tree (the form acuminata) as occurring wild in Dehra 

 Dun and in valleys of the N.-W. Himalaya up to 4,000 ft. It is culti- 

 vated in many parts of N. W. India as far as the Ghenab ; also in Bengal. 

 DiSTBiB. : China and Japan. It flowers in May and June, and the 

 ripe fruit is obtainable during the cold season. The fruit is largely used 

 in India as a substitute for soap for washing clothes as well as the hair. 

 It is also employed as a detergent in the washing of cloth prior to the 

 dyeing of it. Large quantities of soap-nuts areexporfced annually from 

 the Kumaon Forest division 



3. S Danura, Voigt Hart. 8ub. Calc. 94 ; F. B. I. i, 6U. Scytalia 

 Danura, Boxh ; Fl. tnd. ii, 274. Sc. verticillata, Boxh. I.e. 273. Aphania 

 Dauura, Badih. 



An evergreen shrub or small tree. Leaves simple, 4-12 in. long, alter- 

 nate or at the extremities of the branches subverticillate, oId ovate, 

 elliptic or oblong, narrowed or shortly acuminate at the apes, narrowed 

 to a rounded shortly petioled base. Panicles terminal, composed of 

 rather remote diverging compound ramifications, puberulous. Flowers 

 small, pale yellow tinged with pink Petals 5, with a short woolly 

 incurved scale at the base of each. Stamens 6-8, oblong, obtuse. Dish 

 glabrous. Ovary 2-3-lobed, glabrous. Fruit of 1-3 cocci, ^-^ in. long, 

 pulpy when ripe, orange-coloured. 



Bohilkhand (F. B. I.). Distrib : Bengal, Assam, Sylhet, Chittagong, 

 Nicobar Islands, Burma. 



5. ACER, ToTirnef .; Fl. Brit. Ind. i, 692. 



Trees with opposite, simple or palmately lobed exstipulate leaves. 

 Flowers in. terminal and lateral racemes or corj'-mbs, regular, poly- 

 gamous. Calyx usually 5-partite, imbricate, deciduous. Petals 

 equal in number to the sepals or 0, erect, shortly clawed, without 

 scaleR. Stamens about 8, inserted on the glabrous disk ; filaments 

 usually shorter in the bisexual flowers. Ovary usually 2-lobed and 

 2-celled, laterally compressed ; ovules 2 in each cell ; style bipartite, 

 divisions linear, stigmatose on inner face. Fruit a double samara, inde- 

 hiscent. — Species about 100, natives of Europe, Asia and N. America 



