Leguminosae. 93 
it grows to an elevation of two thousand feet. It is now distributed 
all over India and is cultivated in many tropical countries but is 
indigenous in Eastern Bengal. It is an exceedingly handsome object 
when in full blossom and reminds one somewhat of the Ixora. The 
flowers are of a coral-red and arranged in large globose heads in 
the axils as well as at the ends of the branches; the leaves have 
almost no leaf-stalk, are leathery, oblong in outline and entire. 
The bark of this tree is much used by the natives of India for 
medicinal purposes, as it contains a large proportion of gallic acid. 
The Asoka is one of the most sacred trees of the Hindus, who are 
ordered to worship it on a certain day in the year. The flowers, 
which are quite aromatic, are much used in temple decoration. The 
tree stands for the symbol of love and is dedicated to the Indian 
God of Love. The Asoka is also held sacred by the Burmese, who 
believe that Buddha was born under its shade. The word Asoka 
signifies "that which is deprived of grief," hence the name Sorrow- 
less Tree. 
The wood of the Asoka is rather soft and of a light reddish 
brown color, the heartwood is, however, hard and dark colored. 
There seem to be only two or three trees of this species growing 
in Honolulu ; it is in flower nearly all the year round and can be 
seen in the grounds of the Government Nursery facing King Street, 
and in private grounds on Nuuanu Street. 
Trachylobium verracosum Lam. 
Copal Tree. 
Plate XXXVIII. 
The Copal is a small unarmed tree with terete branches. The 
leaves are short-petioled, consisting of a single pair of oblique, oblong, 
rigid-leathery leaves, two to three inches long. The flowers are 
borne in ample corymbose panicles, the lower branches of which 
spring often from the axils of the leaves. The calyx is short, the 
segments oblong and tomentose. The petals are white, the three 
upper often exserted from the calyx. The pod is oblong, thick, warty 
and two inches long. This species, which is represented in Honolulu 
by very few specimens, perhaps by a single one only, is a native of 
Madagascar, tropical Africa, Mauritius, and the Seychelle Islands. 
It is often cultivated, but only for its gum-copal, a hard trans- 
parent substance resembling amber, a natural exudation of this tree. 
The gum is yielded by the living trees, but the commercial sub- 
