118 



34. ANACARDIACE^. 



\_Moringa» 



Common in many parts of India, usually in dry forests, often planted ; 

 throughout the Presidency, usually in dry forests ; common in North K^- 

 nara from the sea-coast inland. Fl. Feb.-Apl. Fr. ripe next Nov.-Dec. 



A moderate sized tree, sheds its leaves early in the year. The flowers 

 appear when the trees are quite bare, during the hot season. They are 

 then conspicuous objects near villages both in N. Kanara and the 

 Konkan. The fruit ripens during the next cold season. Bark smooth, 

 grey, thick. Wood soft, light-grey, coarse-grained ; weighs about 30 lbs. 

 to the cub. ft. Yields a mild, tasteless gum which exudes from wounds 

 made in the bark. During the cold and hot seasons the fruit is greedily 

 eaten by squirrels, monkeys and deer. The ripe fruit has an acid and 

 astringent flavour, it is sometimes pickled. The bark is used for tanning. 



2. S. acuminata, Roxb. Fl. Ind. II. 453 ; Fl. Br. I. 2. 42 ; Grab. 

 Cat. Bomb. PI. 42. Amhut, amhada, M. ; Kodamhada, K. 



Western Peninsula from the Konkan southwards, common in some of 

 the N. Kanara evergreen forests. A moderate sized tree, does not shed 

 its leaves until March or April, The young leaves and panicles of flowers, 

 which are not so large or spreading as those of 8. mangifera, appear 

 together during March and Apr. Fruit ripe next Jan. -Feb. Bark rough, 

 grey. Rhytidome in brofid, flat, plates ; inner bark thick, red, soft, 

 fleshy. Wood grey soft, light. Pores large, simple or subdivided. Med. 

 rays fine or medium, short. Weighs 37 lbs. to the cub, ft. The young 

 leaves when crushed have a peculiar smell. 



Order 35. MORINGE-^. 



Trees. Leaves alternate, imparl^ bi or tripiunate ; pinnae and 

 leaflets opposite. Flowers bisexual, in axillary panicles. Calyx cup- 

 shaped, 6-cleft ; segments unequal, petaloid. Petals 5, unequal. 

 Stamens inserted on the edge of the disk, declinate, 5^ perfect, opposite 

 the petals, alternating with 5-7 filaments without anthers; anthers 

 1 -celled. Disk lining the calyx-tube. Ovary stipitate, lanceolate, 

 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentas ; style simple, slender ; stigma per- 

 forated ; ovules numerous. Capsule pod-shaped, rostrate, 3-6-angled, 

 torulose, 1-celled, 3-valved, corky and pitted within. Seeds many, in 

 pits of the valves, testa corky, winged or 0; albumen U ; embryo 

 with a many-leaved plumule. 



MORINGA, Lamk. 



Only genus, with characters those of the order. 



Leaflets small, nerves obscure. Petals white ..1. 31, ])terygos.^erma» 

 Leaflets large, nerves 4-6 pairs, distinct. Petals 



streaked with pink ... ... ...2, M, concanensts. 



1. M. pterygosperma, Geertn. DC. Prod. II. 478; Fl. Br. I. 2. 45; 

 Brandis For. "FI. 129; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 80; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. 

 Fl. 314. Shevgi, M. ; Nuggi mara, K. ; Shivaga, shegla, segavas, egata^ 

 Vern. Horse Radish Tree, 



