VITEX CIENKOWSKII Kotschy & Peyr.—Dinya, Dunya. VERBENACEAE.

A large tree which occurs more or less evenly distributed throughout the forests. It is rather exacting as a rule as to soil conditions and will not flourish in poor situations, preferring deep soils. It grows to a height of 30-40 feet with girths of 6 or 7 feet, and specimens 10 feet in girth are by no means uncommon. It can be distinguished at a distance by its very large, dense, dark green and regular crown with rounded top. The crown, in the case of trees grown in the open, comes to within 6-10 feet of the ground. Examples growing in the forest exhibit a distinct form, with longer boles and higher, more cylindrical crowns, and the branches ascend at an acute angle to the stem. It is a prolific fruiting species, but more often than not the fruits are burnt on the ground by the grass fires which occur from December on, the months when the fruits fall. It grows very well from the seeds which retain their germinating qualities for some time.

The Bark, which is a very distinctive feature, is light brown or grey, appearing smooth at a distance, and is fibrous in appearance with very narrow and long, vertical fissures and stringy ridges. It is often much darker on the limbs than on the stem. The slash is yellow, darkening on exposure.

The Wood is light brown, rather like Teak. In transverse section the rings are indistinct darker lines, the pores are large, open, mostly single, with a few double pores. The rays are plainly visible, broad, waved, unevenly spaced, with sometimes room for two pores between. The soft tissue round the pores is very poorly developed. In vertical section the pores are distinctive for their curves and the rays are plainly visible as brown flecks in tangential and iridescent bands in radial section. Some of the pore contents glisten. The wood is soft, coarse but nicely grained, very easy to saw and plane, with a soft finish and no polish. The weight is 53 lbs. a cubic foot.

The Leaves are digitate with usually 5, sometimes 6, lobes. They are about 8 inches across, but vary considerably in size and have a 4 inch stalk. A round, pointed leaf-gall is common on the leaves, which are dark green with a bloom on the upper surface and paler with raised venation on the under surface. The young leaves are a deep red-purple.

The Flowers are in small, erect panicles which appear in January. They are about ⅜ inch across, tubular with 5 petals, 4 of which are small and white, the fifth larger and pink. There are 2 long and 2 short stamens.

The Fruits are in pendulous bunches which ripen from December on. They are black and shiny with little brown lenticels on the skin, a black or dark brown flesh and a large stone. They are ¾-1 inch in diameter. The calyx, which enlarges and holds the unripe fruit, dries, shrivels and recedes from the ripe fruit. Bees are greatly attracted by it.

Uses.—The wood is used for making small canoes and large drums.

The fruits are used for making sweetmeats (alewa and madi) and have a taste of honey.

The young leaves are eaten with groundnuts, pepper and salt: they are also an ingredient of ink, being mixed with gum and boiled down to a thickened extract.

Beehives are commonly placed in the branches of this tree.

VITEX DIVERSIFOLIA Baker.—Dunyar biri. VERBENACEAE.

A small tree some 15 feet high, occasionally more, not very common but occurring here and there in Tree savannah and with a very wide distribution. It has little form, being erect and of open growth. Its distinguishing character is the highly scented leaf and the fact that some may be simple and others tri-foliolate. The leaves and branches are in whorls of three, and the fruits like small, oblong editions of those of the well-known V. Cienkowskii.

The Bark is light grey and very thick with soft cork and large rectangular scales. This is, however, largely due to fires.

The Leaves are 4-5 inches long and 2-3 inches broad with a stalk 2-3 inches long. When there is a single leaf it is rounded ovate, with slightly cordate base, but if tri-foliolate the leaflets are obovate with tapering base. The margins are waved. The upper surface is dark green with hairs scattered all over the surface and the under side is densely covered, especially on the venation, with hairs, this being far more marked when the leaf is younger, when the venation is very prominent, though it is grooved on the upper surface. The leaves are generally in whorls of three at each stem node. When crushed they give off a strong sage-like odour.

The Flowers are in cymes in the leaf axils, on long stalks, either in whorls of three or pairs. Each has a 5-pointed bell-shaped calyx, an irregular tubular corolla, the lip large and mauve, the remaining lobes greenish and pubescent, 4 stamens pressed up against the top of the corolla and a small, curved white pistil with bifid stigma.

The Fruits are egg-shaped, about ¾-1 inch long, ripening from green to black, spotted with lenticels and cupped for about one-third of their length by the hairy enlarged calyx. They are fleshy drupes with a hard “stone” containing 4 cells, each with one seed. The flesh is very narrow.

XIMENIA AMERICANA Linn.—Tsada. OLACACEAE.

A small shrubby tree some 10-15 feet high, widely distributed all over the forests and sometimes found in great quantities over small areas. It does not grow in the very dry sandy or rocky northern regions. It has one or several stems from a common stock which spread out and form an open low crown of no form. It can be readily distinguished in fruit and flower.

The Bark is dark brown or almost black, with very small, close-fitting rectangular scales. That of the branches is dark grey and smooth. The slash is crimson and fibrous.

The Thorns are about ½ inch long, slender, very sharp, straight and grey in colour.

The Leaves are 2 inches long and ¾ inch wide, tapering at both ends and with pointed tip: sometimes rounded with slightly cleft tip. The mid-rib has a tendency to curve back, the leaves folding up along it. The surface is smooth and the stalk short and stout and curved.

The Flowers, which appear in January are in small axillary clusters of a dozen or so, each having its own slender stalk growing from the tip of a stouter main stalk. There are 4 small, slender, pointed sepals, 4 petals whose tips are recurved and whose inside surfaces are covered densely with soft, erect hairs, 8-10 stamens inside the corolla, and a pleasant perfume which can be detected from a great distance.

The Fruits are like yellow cherries, with thin skin, sweet flesh and hard stone. The style remains as a prominent pointed tip to the fruit, which is very subject to grubs that may destroy the whole crop.

Uses.—The fruit is eaten and is, with its acid sweet taste, very refreshing.

ZIZYPHUS JUJUBA Lam.—Magariya. RHAMNACEAE.

This species bears a marked resemblance to Z. Spina-Christi, but differs essentially in the under-surface of the leaf having a dense pubescence. It is, as a rule, a smaller tree, though examples may be found almost as large as the other species, 40 feet high with a girth of 5-6 feet. The crown is similar, with a dense tangle of armed twigs, which interlace and droop to a considerable distance. The twigs are very slender and zig-zag sharply at the nodes. This species, unlike the other, is not often seen in towns, but occurs locally in plenty in the forest, in the more open and drier localities especially. It is, like the other, the favourite haunt of small birds, which build their nests in association with those of a small wasp. The crown is not so dense as that of Z. Spina-Christi, since the leaves are smaller and further apart.

The Bark is a smoky grey colour with a brown tinge and has narrow fissures and long stringy ridges and scales. The slash is cerise pink.

The Thorns are in pairs, the upper ¾ inch long and straight, the lower shorter and sharply recurved. They are a pale orange colour, and they and the light grey twigs are covered with a fine pubescence. The upper, straight thorn differs from that of Z. Spina-Christi in being set at near right-angles with the twig, not sharply inclined forward.

The Wood is pale red, in transverse section darker. The sapwood is white. In transverse section the rings show clearly as white bands in the red ground, the pores are small and single and the rays extremely fine, invisible to the naked eye. In vertical section the pores are fine, the grain indistinct. The wood is fairly hard, saws well and planes readily without picking up, to a smooth finish which will polish. A good sound wood with occasional knots.

The Leaves are about 1½ inches long and ¾ inch broad, are alternate and assume one plane with the upper surface outwards. They are dark, shiny green above, with whitish venation, and thickly covered with a grey pubescence beneath. The veins are palmate, three spreading from the base, raised beneath. The margins are very finely serrate.

The Flowers are in small axillary bunches and are downy, greenish, with a flat, 5-pointed calyx, 5 minute petals, and 5 minute stamens and a bifid stigma. The clusters are not so numerous or large as those of the other species. They appear about January.

The Fruits are small, reddish drupes about ½ inch in diameter, with a crisp, whitish flesh, which is sweet and edible, and a stone which is very large for the size of the fruit. The fruit is smaller and drier, and the stone rounder and larger in comparison with it, than those of the other species, Z. Spina-Christi. It ripens about December.

Uses.—The fruits are eaten fresh.

ZIZYPHUS MUCRONATA Willd.—Magariyar kura. RHAMNACEAE.

This species is a small, irregular-shaped tree not, as a rule, above 20 feet in height with a girth of 2-3 feet. It is quite commonly met with as a shrub-like plant, some 10-12 feet high with straggling branches forming a tangle. There may be two or three stems springing at ground level from a common stock. The crown is open and uneven, and the long drooping branches extend to within a few feet of the ground.

The Bark is grey, with long, coarse fissures and rough scales.

The Thorns are in pairs, the dorsal one long and straight, the lower shorter and recurved. They are brown in colour.

The Leaves are dark, dull green, soft on the upper surface, grey and densely covered with velvety hairs beneath. They are about 2 inches long and 1½ inches wide, with short stalks and have finely serrate edges, which the other species have not. The venation is 3-palmate and raised on the under surface. They are borne alternately on the twigs, with a tendency to assume one plane, the upper surface outwards.

The Flowers are in small axillary clusters in the axil of the leaf between the thorns, and are greenish-yellow with a 5-pointed calyx, 5 minute petals, 5 stamens, a bifid stigma and a yellow receptacle. They appear in December.

The Fruits are similar, but larger than those of the other species and are a rich red-brown, with a shiny, brittle skin, a white, mealy flesh and a large stone. They are not edible.

Uses.—The fruits are chewed, but not swallowed, as a cure for toothache. The wood is used for making bows of superior quality.

ZIZYPHUS SPINA-CHRISTI Willd.—Kurna. RHAMNACEAE.

This species is generally found in and around towns where it attains a height of over 40 feet with girths of over 6 feet. Closely resembling Z. Jujuba, it can be distinguished at once from that species by the absence of white on the underside of the leaf. The bright green foliage and tangled crown, commonly spherical in young trees, are readily recognised. Large trees have a great thicket of long, slender twigs that intertwine and emerge here and there from the crown to a distance of several feet, after the manner of the Bramble. It is a good shade tree and this and its edible fruits are the reasons for it being planted and preserved in towns. The tree is a favourite nesting site for small birds which build their nests in association with a wasp whose “honeycomb” guards the entrance to the nest.

The Bark is grey and deeply scoured with long fissures and ragged, ridged scales which fall in large sections 6 inches long. The slash is cerise.

The Thorns are in pairs on the white twigs. The upper thorn is long and straight and the lower is shorter and sharply recurved. They are light brown and the leaf rises between them with the flowers in the leaf axil. The straight thorn points well forward.

The Wood is pale red, often with wide, brown discolorations; the sapwood is white. In transverse section the rings are only faintly marked; the pores are very small, numerous and single: the rays, invisible to the unaided eye, are extremely fine and close together, showing as small reddish bands in radial section. In vertical section the pores are long and fine, the grain close, and the colour banded in faint shades of the ground colour. The wood saws and planes well, is sound, though liable to knots, fairly heavy and moderately hard. The weight is 50 lbs. a cubic foot.

The Leaves, though they are arranged spirally round the twigs, tend to assume one plane. The upper surface is bright green with a bluish bloom and the venation roughens the underside. They are 1-2 inches long and ¾-1 inch wide, the palmate venation composed of three principal nerves, spreading from the base.

The Flowers are in small clusters in the leaf axils, on a common stalk which divides into a number of more slender stalks each bearing one flower. Each is ¼ inch in diameter, with a flat, 5-pointed calyx, 5 minute petals and 5 stamens, and a bifid stigma round which is a raised disc which turns brown. The colour of the flower parts is green, and the flowering season is from October to January.

The Fruits are small, light brown drupes about ¾ inch in diameter with a sweet, edible flesh, juicy, then turning dry and mealy, and a hard stone of large size for the fruit. There is often a very heavy crop and they resemble cherries, ripening from November onwards.

Uses.—On account of its strength and supposed immunity from white ants the wood is used for the rafters of flat-roofed mud houses.

The fruits are eaten fresh. The leaves, besides providing fodder for goats and cattle, are crushed and applied to cure a skin disease.

APPENDIX I.
NOTE ON THE TABLE OF FLOWERING SEASONS.