Page:Illustrations of Indian Botany, Vol. 1.djvu/221

Rh lime, citron, pumplemose, bergamot, &o. are too well known to require notice here, but it is not generally known, that the pulp of the wood-apple (Feronia elephantum) affords a very pleasant jelly, so closely resembling black currant jelly that it is only to be distinguished by a slight degree of astringency which it communicates to the taste. In common with that of most of the order, the wood of this tree is very hard and durable, and not the less valuable for being found in most parts of India. The tree itself, is tall and handsome, with a straight trunk and a fine head, but the branches do not spread much. Ægle Marmelos equally attains the size of a considerable tree. I have not heard of the wood of this plant being used as timber, probably owing to the respect in which the fruit is held by the Hindoos. It is most frequently met with in pagoda gardens, the following extract from Roxburgh's Flora Indica, vol. 2 page 580, will explain the reason of the preference given to this species.

"This is the Bilva or Matura of the Asiatic Researches, vol. 2 page 349, from whence the following is an extract. 4 Uses. The fruit is nutritious, warm, cathartic; in taste delicious, in fragrance exquisite ; its aperient, and detersive quality, and its efficacy in removing habitual costiveness, have been proved by constant experience. The mucus of the seed is for some purposes a very good cement.' Note — ' This fruit is called Shreephula because it sprang, say the Indian poets from the milk of Shree, the goddess of abundance, who bestowed it on mankind at the request of Jowarra, whence he alone wears a chaplet of Bilva flowers, to him only the Hindoos offer them ; and when they see any of them fallen on the ground, they take them up with reverence, and carry them to his temple.'

The root, bark, leaves, and flowers are reckoned refrigerants by the Malabar physicians. The ripe fruit they esteem most wholesome."

As an ornamental garden shrub the Murraya exotica is much cultivated in this country, and well merits the distinction both on account of the beauty of the shrub itself, and the profusion and fragrance of its flowers; as a cultivated plant it rarely produces seed. Murraya paniculata which seems scarcely distinct is frequent in our jungles. The oranges, limes, and pumplemoses, are frequently cultivated in this country on account of their fruit, but the former very rarely with success on the plains, in Coromandel. The cause of this want of success is not ascertained, but I am myself disposed to attribute it to the heat being too high during the period of their ripening their fruit, for it is well known, that in the valleys at the foot of the Ghauts where the cold is much greater during that season of the year, they arrive at great perfection.

The red, loose skinned orange, which arrives at so great perfection in the alpine tracts of the Circars, and which is equally found on the mountains of the south, (but very inferior) is so very tenacious of an alpine country, that it has in the Circars received the name of hill orange. This, to my taste, when in perfection, is by far the most delicious of the whole tribe, but judging from the nature of the climate in which it is said to arrive at its greatest perfection, (a cold very humid atmosphere) it seems next to impossible to rear it successfully on the plains. It must be recollected, that the orange for the most part ripens its fruit during the cold season, showing that to attain perfection it requires a considerable range of the thermometer, the heat in their favourite valleys being high during the day, but low during the night, supplies this desideratum. I may here mention on the authority of the late Dr. Turner that the juice of the lemon, lime and citron, contains a large quantity of citric, and that of the orange malic acid.

Respecting the other species of the order a few words will suffice. Dr. Ainslie Mat. Ind. vol. 2 page 86-87, speaks very favourably of the medicinal properties of Ægle marmelos under the name Cratœva, adding however, that he has never seen the species, which is rather remarkable as it is to be met with in almost every pagoda garden. He informs us that a decoction of the bark of the root is considered on the Malabar coast a sovereign remedy against various forms of disease originating in indigestion, and that the fruit, a little unripe, is given in diarrhæa and dysentery : and Roxburgh (cor. plants) states that the Dutch in Ceylon prepare a perfume from the rind.

The leaves of the Bergera Konigii which are very fragrant, are much used by the natives as a seasoning for their curries, and are supposed stomachic and tonic. An infusion of the dried leaves is said to stop vomiting.

The young leaves of Feronia elephantum have a delightful fragrance resembling anise, hence they are considered stomachic and carminatine. From wounds in the bark of this tree a very transparent gum exudes, having the properties of gum arable, and is said to be better suited than it, for mixing colours for the painter.