25. MELlACEiE. 



73 



A common fcreo throughout India, usually planted along roadsides ; 

 also self-sown throughout India and Burma. Br.mdie says " nowhere 

 really wild in N. W. India," neither have I seen it wild in the W, 

 Peninsula. Bark "5 in. thick, dark grey outside with longitudinal 

 and oblique wrinkled furrows ; inner bark reddish-brown, Never leafless. 

 The young leaves come out at the beginning of the hot season. Flowers 

 during the cold and hot seasons. Fruit ripe July. Produces abundant 

 coppice shoots when cut ; growth fairly quick, 3'4 rings per inch of 

 radius. Wood red or brown, hard, compact; sapwood yellowish-white. 

 Average weight per cub. ft. about 53 lbs. Used for the construction of 

 carts and for agricultural implements. In S. India is in good demand for 

 furniture as it takes a fine polish and owing to its containing a bitter 

 principle is not attacked by white ants, is used by the Hindoos for 

 making idols. The bark exudes a clear amber-coloured gum which is 

 collected in small tears and fragments, used as a stimulant, A fixed 

 acrid oil of a disagreeable flavour (Nim or Margosa oil) is extracted from 

 the seeds. This oil is extensively exported from Madras to Ceylon, where 

 it is used by the poorer classes for burning purposes, but it smokes 

 offensively ; also used in native medicine as an anthelmintic and anti- 

 septic. The bark, particularly that of the root, is a valuable febrifuge. 

 The leaves preserve paper from the attacks of insects. The above are 

 some of the principal uses of this widely-spread and valuable tree. 



2. M. Azedarach, Linn. ; Fl. Br. I. 1. 544; Brandis For. Fl. 68; 

 Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 14. M. sempervirens, Svv. Prod. 67; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 Bomb. Fl. Suppl. 15. Bastard Cedar, Bead Tree, Persian Lilac. Pejri, 

 padrai, M.; Mullanimj H. ; Bakayun, drek, Sind. ; Vilayati nim, Y em. ; 

 Bakam Umbodo, Guz. 



Commonly cultivated throughout India ; wild in the sub-Himalayan 

 tract ; said to be wild also in Beluchistan. Bare of leaves for 3-4 months 

 in the cold season ; in full leaf and bloom from March till May. The 

 yellow fruit ripens in the rainy season and remains on the tree whilst 

 it is leafless. Coppices vigorously. Bark "25 in. thick, grey, smooth. 

 Sapwood yellowish-white, heartwood soft, red. Weighs about 35 lbs. 

 to the cub. ft. Used for furniture, but is said to warp and split to a 

 certain extent ; handsomely marked and polishes well. The bark is very 

 bitter and is used in native medicine as an anthelmintic. The frait 

 yields an oil similar to that obtained from the nim. Strings of the 

 stones are suspended over doors and verandahs during epidemics to 

 avert the disease ; this is the practice in Bombay. The strings of the 

 stones are used all over India for rosaries and necklaces and as charms 

 against disease. 



3. M. dubia, Cav. Diss. (YII) 364 (1789) ; Fl. Br. L 1. 545. M. com- 

 posita, Dalz. & Gibs Bomb. Fl. 36 ; Brandis For. Fl. 69 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. 

 t. 12, Karibevan, K. ; Nimharra^ Vern. ; Kadu kajar, Guz. ; Kuriaput, M. 



Eastern and Western Peninsulas, Burma, often cultivated. In the 

 evergreen and deciduous forests of the North Kanara and Konkan 

 ghats ; common on the Supa ghats. Flowers during March- April. Fruit 

 ripe during the raioy and cold seasons — October till January. A hand- 



B 987— 10 



