64 



21. RUTACE^. 



[Feronia. 



14. PERONIA, Gaertn. 



A spinous tree. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate ; leaflets 5-7 ; 

 petiole winged or not. Flowers polygamous, in panicles or racemes. 

 Calyx small, 5-tootlied, deciduous. Petals usually 5, imbricate. Sta- 

 mens 10-12, filaments dilated, villous at the base. Ovary 5-eelled ; 

 ovules numerous in several series ; style ; stigma fusiform, 

 deciduous. Fruit globose, 1 -celled, filled with pulp ; rind hard ; seeds 

 numerous ; cotyledons thick, fleshy. 



P. Elephantum, Oorrea, Roxb. FI. Ind. IT. 411 ; Fl. Br. I. 1. 516; 

 Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 30; Braudis For. Fl. 56; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 

 121. Elephant or Wood Apple. Gawtha^ Vern. ; Katori^ kavathay 

 Sind; Kawat, kovit^M. ; Balal, bycila, helada, bel, K. 



Throughout India in dry situations, often cultivated. Fl. H. S. Fr. 

 Nov.- Jan. Bark dark grey, very rough, thick, wrinkled, with longi- 

 tudinal shallow furrows. Wood hard, yellowish-* white. Annual rings 

 distinct, marked by a white line. Pores small, joined by bands of white 

 fcissue. Medullary rays short,- white, prominent, numerous, wavy. 

 Weighs about 50 lbs. to the cubic ft. P. equals 623 (Cunningham) ; 645 

 (Skinner) . The wood is used for house-building, agricultural implements, 

 etc., and is well adapted for ornamental carving. The trunk yields a 

 white transparent gum like gum arabic and the acid pulp of the fruit is 

 made into a jelly. 



15. jEGLE, Corr. 



Spinous trees. Leaves alternate, trifoliate, pellucid punctate. 

 Flowers large, white, bisexual, in axillary panicles. Calyx small, 

 4-5 dentate, deciduous. Petals 4-5, imbricate. Stamens numerous, 

 filaments short, subulate. Disk inconspicuous. Ovary ovoid, axis 

 broad ; cells 8-20 near the circumference ; ovules many, 2-seriate ; 

 stigma capitate, obtuse, deciduous. Fruit globose with a hard rind- 

 Seeds many ; testa woolly and mucous. 



A. Marmelos, Corr, ; Fl, Ind. II. 579 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 31 ; 

 Fl. Br. I. 1. 516; Brandis For. Fl. 57; Bedd. Fl, Sylv. t. 161. Bael 

 Tree ; Bengal Quince. Baelputri, K. 



Wild in the sub -Himalayan forests, ascending to 4000 ft. Through- 

 out India in dry places, wild or cultivated ; one of the sacred trees of 

 India, often cultivated near temples. Leaves shed Mch.-Apl. Fl. about 

 May. Fruit ripe Oct.-Nov. Bark '5 in. thick ; rhytidome exfoliating in 

 irregular flakes, soft, corky, light cinerous grey. Wood yellowish- 

 white, hard, with a strong aromatic scent when freshly cut ; not durable. 

 Pores small, uniformly distributed. Med. rays wavy, fine, short, nume- 

 rous, uniform and equi-distant. Annual rings distinct, often marked by 

 a continuous belt of pores. Weighs about 50 lbs. to the cubic ft. The 

 wood is used in house building, for sugar mills, carts and agricultural 

 implements. The pulp of the fruit is used medicinally and is a valuable 

 product. 



