Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/832

752 exserted, linear-lanceolate, subsessile, hairy at the back. Ovary 7-9-celled. Berry 1 by ⅔in., ovoid, smooth, green, fleshy, 1-2 or 3-seeded. Seeds ½-lin. long.

Uses : -It is used as an ointment in cases of rheumatism. The butter is an excellent emollient for chapped hands, &c, during the winter months. It seems deserving of further attention (Watt, I. 406).

The kernels yield from 60 to 65 per cent, of fat. The fat has a whitish colour and agreeable odour, and is used for edible purposes. It has been recommended for the preparation of ointments. The constants are : Specific gravity at 100°, 0.86—0.89 ; melting point, 39° ; saponification value, 190 to 194; iodine value, 41 to 42; Reichert-Meissl value, 0-44 to 1.25. Fatty acids about 95 per cent., melting at 51° to 53°. The fat consists of the glycerides of oleic and palmitic acids and a small amount of phytosterol.

Sans. : — Vakula.

Vern : — Bakul (Beng.) ; Mólsarí (Hind.) ; Ghólsarí, bhólsarí (Dec.) ; Mogadam (Tam.) ; Pogada-mánu (Tel.); Elangi (Ma.) ; Bakuli, ovali (Bom.). Buckhul ; ranjal (Kan.).

Habitat: — Deccan and Malay Peninsulas, frequently cultivated in North India.

A large, ornamental, glabrous, evergreen tree, 50ft. Bark dark-grey, rough, deeply cracked, with vertical or transverse fissures; wood very hard, close and even-grained. Sapwood reddish-brown ; heart wood dark-red. Leaves 3½ by 1¾ in., elliptic, shortly acuminate, base rhomboid, nerves slender, numerously horizontal, scattered, shining. Petioles fin., youngest shoots, pedicels and outside of the calyx, with very short rusty pubescence. Flowers white, very fragrant, nearly lin., across, pedicles ½-⅔in. Calyx segments 8. Corolla deciduous, leaves in 2 series, 16-20, narrow, lanceolate stamens 8, usually ; staminodes 8, short, densely hairy on the back, acute, serrate or subentire. Berry 1-seeded, ¾-lin., ovoid, yellow. The fragrant smell of the Corolla persistent long after it dries.