PTEROCARPUS MARbUPIUM. Roxb.
This is a large and a very beautiful tree, especi ally when in flower hi the )pegiiiiiing of the mina ; its seed ripens about the close of the year. It is widely diffused, and yields one of the must abuud ant and useful timbers of S. India, and also the valuable gum - kino of Malabar. Its size and manner of growth differ very much under different circumstances ; it is often very poor and scraggy, but attains a fine size in the western forests of the Peninsula, and in favourable ravines and sub alpine jungles elsewhere ; it is seldom found of any size above 4000 feet elevation. It is common all round the foot of the Neilgherry Ghats, and along the roads through the Wynail. It is there notched in a V-shaped form for the extraction of kino, which meets with a ready market on the coast, and is exported in wooden boxes to Bombay. It grows luxuriantly on the Eastern Ghats, on the hills between Vellore and Salem, and on the Malabar and Camara Ghats, where large quantities are collected of the resinous kino. The tree abounds near Tellicherry, and along the whole Malabar coast. It is not generally common in the Bombay forests, but is most seen in the northern inland ones, and also in those of the extreme south, as in the Bedee talc& Buchanan Hamilton mentions it under the name of Vijaya as occurring in Nepal and also to the eastward of Bengal. It has been observed in the IConkans (Graham), Rajpeepla jungles (Dr. Lush), and Assam (Voigt). The timber is dark-coloured and strong, and much prized for building purposes, and in some parts of Madras Presidency fetches as high a price as teak.
On the Godavery, the native dhol is often made of it. It yields from incisions a large quantity of blood-red juice, which, on being simply exposed to the sun, hardens and then quickly cracks into little angular masses and crumbling fragments, which constitute, without further preparation, the kiuo of the shops. The product 'can be obtained with facility by simply incising the bark, and requires no outlay save that of collecting. The timber is very little inferior to teak ; it seems less liable to split after long exposure, and is equally strong, but the wood is heavier. Vessels built in the Ganjam districts are planked with it •' and the door panels and venetinus of the neglected houses at Ganjam arc formed of this wood, and have stood better than teak similarly situated. It is more expensive than teak to work, and when sawn green the outer planks bend considerably. This is one among the unlucky woods of the Hindus, though the prejudices against it have in part given way to profit. For general utility, it is superior to any other rnahajante wood, a commercial term among the people of the Northern Circani, includ ing all wood used for building except teak.— Roxburgh, iii. p. 234 ; Coronsamk1 Ptants, ii. t. 116 ; Drs. Wight, Gibson, Rogle, Ainslie, 0' Shanoh nessy, Cleyhorn, roigt ; Captains Sankey, Prate, Beddorne ; Messrs, Latham, M'It.or, Rohde's 3ISS.; Madras Conservator's Report of 1858 ; E. J. Eng. Cr.