N. 0. MALVACEAE. 
187 
Habitat : — Tropical shores of Bengal and both peninsulas, 
Ceylon. 
A middle-sized, evergreen, rapid-growing tree. Heartwood 
small, dark red, smooth ; sapwood soft. Leaves cordate, acumi- 
nate, entire on both sides, with minute, peltate scales ; blade 
8-5 in., petiole 1-4 in. Flowers axillary, solitary or 2 together. 
Bracteoles none, or early deciduous. Calyx cup-shaped, truncate. 
Corolla yellow, passing into purplish pink when withering, 2 in. 
diam. Capsule dehiscent or i ndehiscent ; 1-| in., oblong, depress- 
ed, scaly, ultimately glabrescent. Seeds silky, pilose or powdery 
on the surface (Maxwell T. Masters). 
Parts used : — The bark, fruit, seeds, flowers, root and leaves. 
Uses : — The fruit yields a yellow, viscid juice, which forms a 
valuable local application in scabies and other cutaneous diseases 
in South India. The affected parts of the body are daily washed 
with a decoction of the bark (Watt). Ainslie says that a 
decoction of the bark is given internally as an alterative. 
Dr. Waring tried it in scabies and other cutaneous diseases; 
in some cases, it exercised a favourable influence but in the 
majority it was productive of little or no benefit. 
In Tahiti, the fresh capsules, bruised and applied to the 
forehead are said to cure migraine ; the yellow sap exuding from 
the peduncles is considered a cure for the bites of insects, espe- 
cially of the centipede ; it is also useful in sprains, bruises, and 
all cutaneous affections. In Mauritius, the bark is described 
as depurative, as used in dysentery, haemorrhoids; the juice 
of the fruits being applied to warts.” Christy’s N. C. P., No. x., 
p. 43. 
Rumphius speaks highly of the value of heartwood as a 
remedy for bilious attacks and colic, and in a kind of pleuro- 
dynia from which the Malayas often suffer. 
In the Central Provinces, the root is taken as a tonic. 
In the Concan, the flowers are employed in the cure of itch ; 
and the leaves are employed as a local application to inflamed 
and swollen joints (Dymock). 
