Part III.] E. Benskin and A. Rodger: Note on Thitsi . 3 
It usually occurs in association with the following, besides Diptero- 
carpus tuberculatus Roxb. : Dillenia pulcherrima , Kurz., Shorea obtusa, 
Wall., Pentacme suavis, A. DC., Lophopetalum Wallichii , Kurz., 
Buxhanania latifolia, Roxb., and many others which thrive on sandy, 
laterite, and the drier soils. The undergrowth often consists of 
Indig of era pulchella , Roxb., Phoenix acaulis, Buch., Blinkworthia 
lycioides, Choisy., Flemingia sp., Cycas siamensis, Miq., and similar 
shrubs. Mr. Marsden estimates that there may be an average of 8 trees 
to the acre in favourable localities, but it is often found scattered in small 
numbers over very large areas of forest. In the Katha Division, 
Mr. Blanford puts down the average proportion of thitsi as between 1 
in 50 to 1 in 100 of other species. In the hills, it is smaller in size and 
is usually found with oaks such as Quercus serrata, Thunb., Q. Bindley - 
ana, Wall., Q. fenestrata , Roxb. and with Schima Wallichii , Choisy. 
Mr. Copeland in his “ Manual of Arboriculture for Burma” says 
that the tree prefers a gravelly soil, and is therefore recommended for 
localities in the dry zone where the soil is not too elayey. 
It is very abundant in some parts of the Southern Shan States, and 
often forms half the growing stock of those zones of forests in which the 
oak is merging into Shorea obtusa forest. 
Mr. Blanford says that the Burmans consider that there are three 
kinds of thitsi trees : the black, the red and the white. The three 
varieties differ only very slightly. The red and white varieties are, to 
all intents and purposes, indistinguishable. The black has a slightly 
darker brown bark and slightly .rounder leaves, and can, with a little 
difficulty, be distinguished from the other two kinds. The question of 
difference is not one of locality, as all three varieties are found on the 
same locality, though usually where the trees are at all numerous several 
trees of one variety form groups. The chief difference between black 
and other varieties appears to be in the outturn of the oleo-resin, as 
the black variety produces by far the most oil. 
The oils produced by the black and red varieties differ slightly in 
colour, but the superiority of the commercial red thitsi oil is chiefly 
due to other causes. 
To the west, the tree is found in Manipur but is not known to exist in 
Assam. Mr. Perree says that he thinks that in the Manipur State thitsi 
or khew is confined to the regions of the Burma border where the Induing 
type of forests occur. 
This opinion is confirmed by a former Political Agent, Lieutenant- 
Colonel J. Shakespear, C. I. E., D.S.O., who states that the tree is found 
only on the lower slopes of the hills, on the west of the Kabaw valley, 
and that its occurrence is rare. 
[ 99 ] b 2 
