NO. 53—1902.] TREES AND FLOWERING PLANTS. 237 



for the sake of its most excellent timber, which is used for 

 all manner of furniture and for house-building. Weight, 

 42 to 45 lb. The fruits are eaten, and likewise the seeds; 

 in fact it is one of the few trees we have in Ceylon of which 

 no part is lost, or need be. The wood supplies a dye for 

 colouring Buddhist priests' robes, in addition to its use as a 

 timber. 



Above 4,000 feet the Jak does not nourish well, and 

 plantations of this species if left to abandonment seemingly 

 die out. 



The famous Breadfruit (A. incisa) is another familiar 

 example of this Genus, but is cultivated only for the sake of 

 its fruit. Its timber is practically worthless. 



PALME/E. 



This valuable Order, so characteristic of the tropics, is 

 represented by ten Genera : Areca, Loxococcus, Oncosperma, 

 Caryota, Nipa, Phoenix, Corypha, Calamus, Borassus, and 

 Cocos. Of these the majority are common to other parts of 

 the world, and many doubtless have, in consequence of their 

 extreme utility to man, been introduced, till the natural 

 home of some has become questionable. 



260.— Areca Catechu (Areca Palm). 



Puwak, S. geDffiJ ; Pakku, T. uir&@ 

 Trim. Cey. Flor., vol. IV., p. 321. 



A tall slender palm, with even cylindrical stem, often sixty 

 feet long, usually pale gray, and with well-defined leaf scars. 

 Head small. Fruits in masses, of a rich golden-orange 

 colour. 



