25. MELTACE^. 



81 



Sub-Himalayan forests, Burma, Bengal, Oudh, Southern and Western 

 India ; more or less abundant in the evergreen forests of the KoBkan and 

 N. Kanara. Fl. Jan. Fr. March-Apl. Bark dark grey, about *5 in. thick, 

 exfoliating when old in irregular, woody scales ; inner bark red. Wood 

 brickred, soft, shining, open-grained, fragrant, readily seasons, does not warp 

 or "Bplit. Annual rings marked by a ring of large pores. Med. rays red, 

 fine and broad. Suitable and mnch used for tea boxes in Bengal ; also used 

 for furniture, carving and building purposes (door panels), makes ex- 

 cellent cigar boxes. Possesses a fragrant odour, particularly when freshly 

 cut. Yields a resinous gum. A red and yellow dye obtained from the 

 flowers is apparently adapted for colouring silken fabrics. 



CHLOROXYLON, DO. 



A tree. Leaves abruptly pinnate ; leaflets many, unequal-sided. 

 Flowers small, bisexual, in terminal or axillary panicles. Calyx 

 5-divided. Petals 5, clawed, imbricate. Stamens 10^ alternately 

 longer and shorter, inserted outside base of disk ; filaments filiform ; 

 anthers versatile. Disk thick, 10-lobed, pubescent. Ovary pubes- 

 cent, immersed in disk, 3-lobed and celled ; ovules 8 in each cell ; 

 style short, slender ; stigma capitate. Capsule 3-celled, loculicidally 

 3-valved. Seeds imbricate, winged; albumen 0; cotyledons] plano- 

 convex. 



C. Swietenia, DC. Prod. I. 625 ; Fl. Br. 1. 1. 569 ; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 

 11 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 39 ; Brandis For. Fl, 74. Mashwul, K, ; 

 Halda, hillu, M. Satinwood. 



Central, Southern India and Ceylon ; common on the Satpuras and the 

 drier parts of the Bombay Presidency ; abundant on the sandstone 

 formation both in the Kaladgi and Belgaum districts. The fresh foliage 

 appears in May. Fl. Mar.-Apl. Fr. Apl.-Oct. Bark yellow, fissured, 

 soft, corky, about '5 in. thick. Wood hard, yellowish-brown, fragrant, with 

 a 6ne satiny lustre. Annual rings distinct. Seasons well. Weighs about 60 

 lbs. to the cubic foot, very strong, P. varying between 600 and 1,059. 

 An excellent wood for turning. Used for agricultural implements, carts, 

 furniture and picture-frames ; exported to England for cabinet work and 

 backs of brushes. 



Yields a yellow dye j also a wood oil. Not a good firewood, smokes too 

 much. 



Oei3ee26. CHAILLETIACEJE. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire. Stipules 2, petiolar, 

 deciduous. Flowers small, hermaphrodite or unisexual, in axillary^ 

 corymbose cymes. Sepals 5, free or connate. Petals 5, free, equal 

 or unequal, notched or 2-fid, often with an inflexed lamina, adnate 

 to the limb of the petal, usually open in testivation. Stamens 5, free 

 or adnate to the corolla. Disk of 5 glands or scales or a glandular 

 orlobed cup. Ovary free, 2-3-celled; ovules 2 in each cell^ pendulous 

 B 987—11 



