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OCTOBER, 1925
SARALA AND DEVADARU
187
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Spem a phyta
Gymnosperms
cel maine
Cy adae
Coniferae Gaetaceae Monocotyledons
Angiosperins coniferac Gnetaceae Monocotyledons Dicotyledona
• Thalam gora Calycifora Coroliittorne Incompletar Tamboa Cnetum Ephedra. Anonaceae (N.o.)
etc.
(3;xecies--Polyalthia longifolia) A. Pinaceae. B. Taxaceac (Yew family).
Cycas YAMDA
Dion Macephal
arros etc
etc.
(1) Pinus (0) Cedrus (3) Abies (4) Tsugi (5) Sequola (0) Larix (7) Thuja (8) Juniperus (0) Cupressus (Pine) (eedar) or Picca (Hemlock
(larch) (Arbor (Red cedar (Cypress) ('Scotch Ar (Spruce) Spruce)
vitae) etc.) is & pinus
Silver tir. while white fir 18
Spruce) Specles-'Sarala' Species-'Devadaru': I give below, the different characteristics of the three trees -
The so-called Devad aru' of Bengal.
1. Polyalthia Longifolia.
Uvaria longifolia (Indian fir or Mast tree). Habitat - A large creot evergreen glabrous tree, wild in the drier parts of Ceylon and Tanjore, cultivated throughout the hotter parts of India. It is commonly planted in avenues along roadsicles in Bengal and S. India.
Stem-Has got good bast fibre. Branches--Glabrous.
Lcaves-Narrowly lanceolate, taper-pointed, undulate. 5 to 8 by 1-2 inches. Base acute; petiole about inch long.
Flowers-Numerous, dense; yellow-green in fascicles, 1-14 inch across. Peduncles & inch or less ; hoary. Pedicele, 1-2 inch densely racemose
Practs-Minute, linear; pubescent, deciduous, about or above the middle: Sepals--- inch long, triangular. Petals--Narrow, linear spreading tapering to a point. Carpels-When ripe inch long; are numerous, stalked, ovoid, obtuse at both ends.
Fruit-Ovoid or oblong, one-seeded and purple. Favourite food of birds. The fruits ripen during the rainy season.
N.O. - Anonaceae (the same family to which custard apple belongs).
(Vide-Hooker, vol. I, p. 62; Theodore Cooke's Flora of the Bombay Presidency; Prain's Bengal Plants, p. 204.)
II. Pinus Longifolia.
(True Sarala.') Habitat -A large gregarious tree of the outer and drier Himalayan slopes, from the Indus to Bhutan, met with as low down as 1500 feet and ascending to 7000 feet. A more or lesa deciduous tree of the Siwalik range and outer Himalayas and also valleys of the principal Himalayan rivers ; attaining usually 100 to 120 feet height, but is very often stunted and gnarled. Trunk usually naked, rarely with 12 feet girth.
Stem- Bark is brown or yellowish-reddish and corky; furrowed; no distinct heartwood is noticeable.
Leaves-Three-fold, filiform, from 12 to 18 inches long; pendulous, with the marging # little scabrous ; 9 to 12 in slonder triquetrons, back obtuse, sheaths persistent.