IIoj)ea,'] 



14. DIPTEROCARPE^. 



35^ 



Evergreen forests of the Western Peninsula from tbe Konkan south- 

 wards. Common along the banks of the North Kanara gh^t rivers and 

 nalas. Fl. March-June. Fr. H. & R. S. 



An ornamental tree when covered with its bright crimson-winged fruits 

 during the hot season. Bark smooth, exfoliating in large rectangular 

 plates : inner bark white or yellowish, "25 in. thick. Wood dark yellowish- 

 grey, very hard and heavy. Pores, uniform, numerous, in small groups in 

 the midst of the lighter coloured tissue. Medullary rays numerous, very 

 fine. Weighs about 65 lbs. to the cubic foot. Is much used for building 

 purposes in North Kanara. 



5. VATERIA, L. 



Large evergreen, resinous trees, glabrous or stellately pubescent. 

 Leaves coriaceous, entire. Stipules small, deciduous, or inconspicuous. 

 Flowers large, pedicellate in axillary and terminal panicles. Calyx 

 segments imbricate, scarcely accrescent in fruit, tube short, adnate to 

 the torus. Stamens 40-^0, the outer smaller; anthers sessile or on 

 short filaments, linear ; cells unequal, the outer longer and })roader, 

 dehiscing from apex to base. Ovar}^ o-celled; cells 2-ovuled ; style 

 long, filiform. Fruit large, supported by the small, persistent calyx. 

 Cotyledons thick, fleshy, unequal, usually lobed, including the superior 

 radicle. 



V. indiea, L„ Fl. Br. 1. 1. 313, F. malaharica, Blume ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. 

 t. 81. The White Dammer of Southern India, Piney Yarnish, or Indian 

 Copal Tree. Dhupada, K. 



. Western Peninsula from North Kanara to Travancore and Ceylon, in 

 evergreen forests. A large handsome tree with smooth grey bark and a 

 cylindrical stem, sometimes 5 ft. in diameter. Wood white, heartwood 

 grey, rough. Porea large, subdivided, few. Medullary rays moderately 

 broad and fine, white, distinct. Weighs about 26 lbs. to the cubic foot. 

 Not much in request. Sometimes made into canoes in North E^uara, but 

 not often. Yields the Piney gum resin which exudes from wounds in the 

 trunk, an excellent varnish, used for carriages and furniture. Fruit 

 contains 25 per cent, of tannin. The bark is very astringent. 



Colonel Beddome in his Fl. Syl. says : " F. ^7^c?^ca, is only found in 

 Ceylon. V, malaharica^ is the Western Peninsular species." This latter 

 has been reduced to F. indiGii, L., in the Fl. Br. I. by Sir W. T. Dyer. 

 The larger fruit and double bristle-pointed anthers of the Ceylon plant 

 not being considered specific characters. Sir D. Brandis iu his recent 

 work on the Dipterocarpeae also adheres to thia opinion. 



In North Kanara this tree was formerly planted along avenues or roads 

 by the Sonda kings. A fine avenue of old dhupada trees exists at the 

 present day near Siddapore, evidently from this origin. The cohering 

 petals cover the ground during the months of March and April, when they 

 are accompanied by the yellow masses of equally deciduous anthers. The 

 young leaves are bright red and appear during the cold season. The fruit 

 is ripe during the rainy season. 



