Jle^nea.] 



25. MELIACEJJ. 



79 



Widely spread throughout the moist forests of India from tha 

 Himalayas southwards to Ceylon, throughout the Western gh^t forests 

 of the Bombay Presidency ; common along the banks of rivers in North 

 Kanara ; also in evergreen forests. Fl.Feb.-March. Fr. ripe in the cold 

 season Get. -Feb. 



Bark dark, ash-coloured. Wood yellowish- white, smooth, moderately 

 hard. Pores medium sized, often divided or in small groups, joined by 

 broken irregular bands of white tissue. Med. rays medium, numerous. 

 Weighs 42 lbs. to the cub, ft. Col. Peyton 'in the Bombay Gazetteer, N". 

 Kanara, Vol. 2, says that the wood is useless. Bark and leaves contain 

 a bitter astringent substance. 



10. CARAPA,Aubl. 



Trees. Leaves 2-6-foliate ; leaflets opposite, entire. Panicles axil- 

 lary, lax. Calyx 4-fid. Petals 4, reflexed. Staminal tube nr- 

 ceolate, globose, 8 -dentate at apex, teeth bipartite ; anthers 8, 2-cell- 

 ed, included, sessile. Bisk fleshy, cup-shaped, at the base of the 

 ovary and adherent to it. Ovary 4-celled, 4-sulcate ; cells 2-8-ovul- 

 ed ; style short ; stigma discoid. Fruit a globose capsule (3-4-iD. in 

 diameter), 6-12-seeded. Seeds large, angular, exarillate ; testa hard, 

 spongy j hilum large, ventral ; cotyledons amygdaloid. 



C. moluceensis. Lam. Encycl. Meth. 1. 621 ; Fl. Br. 1. 1. 567 ; Bedd. 

 Fl. Sylv. t. 136. G. obovata, Blume. Bijdr. 179. Sea coasts of Bengal, 

 Malabar, Burma and Ceylon. Yields a brown, bitter gum resin. Bark 

 bitter and astringent contains much tannin. Used in native medicine. 

 Wood white, turning red on exposure, hard. Weighs 45 — 50 lbs. to the 

 cub. foot. Sir D. Brandis is of opinion that C. moluceensis, Ham., is 

 distinct from G. obovata, Bl., and that the latter is probably the W. 

 Peninsular species, the former being confined to Malaya, Australia and 

 East Africa. 



11. SOYMIDA, Adr. Juss. 



A tree. Leaves paripinnate ; leaflets opposite, entire. Flowers 

 greenish-white, in axillary or terminal panicles. Sepals 5, im- 

 bricate. Petals 5, free^ spreading, unguiculate. Staminal-tube 

 short, cup-shaped, lO-lobed, lobes bidentate ; anthers sessile between 

 the teeth, short. Disk flat. Ovary 5 -celled ; cells many-ovuled; 

 style short ; stigma broad, fleshy. Capsule woody, 5-valved. Seeds 

 numerous, winged at both ends, albuminous ; cotyledons foliaceous. 



S. febrifuga, Adr. Juss. in Mem. Mus. XIX. 251. t. 22, f. 26;F1. 

 Br. I. 3. 567; Brandis For. Fl. 71 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 8 ; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 Bomb. Fl. 38. Bastard Cedar ; Indian Eedwood. Hohan, led cliundan-, 

 rainy i, Vern. ; Palara, M. ; Suami, K. 



N.-W., Central and Southern India, Western Peninsula and Ceylon, 

 Guzerat, Kh^ndesh, Belgaum and Dharwdr, usually on dry stony hills. 

 Young foliage and flowers appear during April and May before the old 

 leaves have all fallen. Fruit during July and August. Bark dark, 



