9 10 212. SHOREA ROBUSTA/^ 213. Gaertn. sem. 3. p. 4 8, tab. 18 6. DIPTEROCARPUS TURBINATUS Gartn. sem. 3, p. SI. tab. 188. Salu the Sanscrit name, and Saul of the Hindoos and Bengalese GENERIC CHARACTER. Gal7/x 5 -leaved, imbricate, permanent, and enlarging into five long Wrings, round the capsule. Gorol 5-petalled. Capsule above, one-cell'd, one-valved, one-seeded. Tiliah-gurjeon of the Hindoos, in Tipperah and Chittagong. GENERIC CHARACTER. Ca/j/x beneath, one-leaved, permanent; two of the five divisions of its border growing, with the pericarp, into two very large membranaceous wings. Corol five-petalled. Capsule ovate, one-cell'd, one-seeded. DESCRIPTION. Trunk, straight, of great thickness and height in full grown trees ; beams being sometimes brought down 24 inches square, and thirty, or more, feet in length. Leaves alternate, short-petioled, cordate-oblong, entire, smooth, DESCRIPTION. Trunk straight throughout to the very top of the tree, and growing to an immense size ; even so large as to be made into canoes that will carry one hundred men. Bark pretty smooth, firm, pale-greenish colour, with many simple, parallel, nearly Branches ascending: branchlets alternate, bifarious, round, smooth. Leaves alternate, short-petioled, bifarious, ovate-oblong, some entire, some waved, and even some are serrate ; both sides smooth, deep shining green ; veins many, straight, simple, and parallel; from four to twelve inches long. opposite veins ; from 4 to 8 Inches long;. Stipules Panicles terminal, and from the exterior axills, spreading, very ramous, downy. Flowers numerous, pretty large, pale yellow. Bractes small, caducous. Calyx beneath, five-leaved : leaflets unequal, downy on the outside, permanent, and enlarging into five long wings, surrounding with their base the pericarp. Petals five, obliquely ovate-lanceolate, 3 or 4 times longer than the calyx; margins towards the apex revolute ; on the outside somewhat sericeous. Filaments from 25 to 30, longer than the calyx, inserted round the base of the germ ; lower half broad and membranaceous. Anthers two-lobed, gaping round the apex, with a minute bristle between the openings. Germ conical. Style awl-shaped, permanent. Stigma small. Capsule ovate, pointed, one-cell'd, of a tender consistence, covered with soft, grey down, and enveloped by the enlarged leaflets of the calyx, each of them being now furnished with a long, wedge-shaped, reticulated, membranaceous wing. Seed solitary (rarely two), of the shape, and size of the capsule. OBSERVATIONS. This majestic tree is a native of the skirts of the northern mountains of India ; Calcutta is supplied with the timber thereof, chiefly from Morung ; flowering time the hot season, seed ripe In three months thereafter. The wood of this tree Is In very general use near Bengal, for beams, rafters, and various other economical uses ; it is of an uniform light brown colour, close grained, and heavy ; at the same time It does not appear to be very durable, and on that account greatly Stipules within the leaves, large, sword-shaed Spikes subaxillary, solitary, shorter than the leaves, smooth. Flowers solitary, remote, alternate, large. Calyx beneath, one-leaved. 7"m^^ rather gibbous. ^^r</^r five-parted, irregular ; two of the divisions being very much larger than the other three ; these two continually increasing, until the seed is ripe. , Petals five, narrow, obliquely wedge-shaped, smooth on both sides and entire, except that sometimes they are emarginate. Filaments about thirty, short. Inserted round the base of the germ. Anthers ensiform, ending in long, tapering, acute points. Germ above, ovate. Style erect, length of the stamina. Stigma perforated. Capsule ovate, pointed, one-celled, one-valved, of a tender consistence, covered with short, soft, hairy down, and enveloped in the enlarged Calyx ; the two larger divisions of its border are now, two very large, linear oblong wings, beautifully reticulated with veins and nerves. 6'^^</ solitary, shape of the capsule ; from its apex the embryo of the future plant issues. inferior to Teak ; for In strength it certainly surpasses it consider-and houses in India. OBSERVATIONS. This Immense tree Is a native of Chittagong, Tipperah, Pegu, and other countries to the eastward of Bengal, Flowering time the beginning of the hot season ; seed ripe in June and July. This tree is famous over the eastern parts of India, and the Malay Islands, on account of its yielding a thin, liquid balsam, commonly called Wood-oil ; which is much used for painting ships ably, and appears to me to deserve the second place amongst our India timber trees. Teak being the first. This as well as some other species of the same genus, yields large quantities of the resin, commonly called Dammer in India, and very generally used, as a substitute for pitch In the Marine yard. The best pieces are also frequently used, instead of the common incense, (Benzoin,) in the temples of the Hindoos. In the plate, the dissected flower Is magnified; the fruit of its natural size. * So named in honour of the Right Honourable Lord Teignmoutli, late Governor General of Bengal, kc. VOL. III. To procure the balsam, a large notch Is cut Into the trunk of the tree, near the earth ; say about thirty inches from the ground, where a fire Is kept up until the wound is charr'd, soon after which the liquid begins to ooze out. A small gutter Is cut in the wood, to conduct the fluid into a vessel placed to receive it. The average produce of the best trees, during the season. Is said to be sometimes as high as forty gallons. It is found necessary every three or four weeks, to cut off the old charr'd surface, and burn it afresh; and in large, healthy trees, abounding in balsam, they even cut a second notch, In some other part of the tree, and