Dalbergia] 



XLV. LEGUMINOS^ 



233 



stamens each. Ovary stipitate with few ovules, style short incurved, stigma 

 small terminal. Pod flat, indehiscent, with one or few seeds. 80 species, 

 tropical and sub-tropical regions of Old and New World. 



A. Trees or erect shrabs. Stamens 9 or 10, united in a sheath split above. 



1. D. Sissoo, Roxb. ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 25 ; Brand. F. Fl. t. 24. The 

 Sissoo tree. Vern. Tali^ Pb. ; SissUj Shisham, Hind. 



A large deciduous tree, bark grey, heartwood brown with darker veins. 

 Leaflets 3-5, broadly-elliptic or ovate, acuminate, pubescent when youn^, 

 glabrous when full grown, 1-3 in. long. Fl. yellowish white, nearly sessile, 

 in short axillary panicles. Stamens 9, ovary pubescent, style much shorter 

 than ovary. Pod linear-lanceolate , 1-3- seeded. 



Subhimalayan tract and in tlie outer valleys, from the Indus to Assam, ascending 

 generally to 3,000, and in places to 5,000 ft. Extending far into the plains along river 

 banks. Baluchistan, Suleiman range. Planted and often self-sown throughout India. 

 Fl. March-May. 



2. D. latifolia, Eoxb. Cor. PI. t. 113 ; Wight Ic. t. 1156 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. 

 t. 24. Blackivoodj Roseiuood. Vern. Sitsalj Bengal; Kiri, Kol; Shisham^ 

 Mar. ; Biti^ Kan. ; Jitengi^ Tel. ; Itti^ Tam. 



A large deciduous tree, bark grey, heartwood dark purple with black streaks. 

 Leaflets 3-7, broadly elliptic, orbicular or elliptic-obovate, obtuse, sometimes 

 emarginate, ^-3 in. long. Fl. whitish, \ in. long, on pedicels nearly as long as 

 calyx tube, in short axillary much-branched panicles. Stamens 9, ovary gla- 

 brous, style slender, nearly as long as ovary. Pod oblong-lanceolate, 1-4-seeded. 



Subhimalayan tract, from Oudh to Sikkim. Central and South India, extending 

 north to Bandelkhand and to Todgarh in Merwara. Generally in deciduous forests, 

 often associated with Teak. On the west side of the peninsula, also in evergreen 

 forests. Fl. at Calcutta, in Sikkim and North Kanara in August, in Singbhiim Sept.- 

 Oct., elsewhere with the fresh foliage in April. Cojjpices well, and throws up root 

 suckers. D. sissoides, Grah. ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. under tab. 24 (Iruputu), Wainad, 

 Palghat, Anamallays, Madura, and Tinnevelli, is a remarkable tree, smaller in size, 

 wdth smaller and more numerous leaflets, fl. J in. long, which requires further study. 

 It generally flowers in July, but has also been found to flower in March. D. emar- 

 ginata, Eoxb., Fl. Ind. iii. 224, a large tree on the Andamans (probably on North Island) 

 resembling Sissoo in habit, with obovate emarginate leaflets, fl. J in. long, pure white, 

 fragrant, in axillary panicles generally congregated at the ends of branches, identified 

 with D. latifolia in Fl. Brit. Ind. will probably prove a distinct species. Prain, Journ. 

 As. Soc. Beng. 70, 41 unites D. sissoides with Z>. emarginata. To this I cannot agree. 



Wight 



rimosa, 

 Ic. t. 



3. D 



E;Oxb. ; 

 262. 



A small bright green 

 tree or large, straggling 

 sometimes climbing, 

 shrub. Leaflets 5-9, 

 2-3 in. long, elliptic, 

 acute at both ends, 

 glabrous above, slightly 

 pubescent beneath, 

 secondary nerves 

 numerous (15-20 pair), 

 with shorter parallel 

 intermediate ones. Fl. 

 white, small, in short 

 corymbose panicles, 

 ramifications slender. 

 Stamens 10. Pod 2-3 

 in. long, 1-2-seeded. 



Fig. 100. — Dalbergia rimosa, J^oxb. ^. 



