Terminalia
(from terminus, end; alluding to the disposition of the leaves). Myrobalan-tree. Including Badamia, Buceras, Bucida, Catappa, Fatraea, Myrobalanus, and Pentaptera. ORD. Combretaceae. A large genus (eighty to ninety species) of stove, evergreen, erect shrubs or trees, broadly spread over the tropics. Flowers green or white, rarely coloured, small, sessile, in spikes or heads; calyx five-toothed or five-cleft; petals wanting; stamens ten, biseriate. Leaves alternate, rarely nearly or quite opposite, often clustered at the tips of the branches, often stalked and entire. A few of the introduced species are here described. The bark of T. Buceras is greatly esteemed by tanners. Loam and peat form the most suitable compost for these plants. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in sand, and plunged in heat, under a glass. With the exception of T. sericea, all the species here described are trees.
T. angustifolia (narrow-leaved). A synonym of T. Benzoin. T. Arjuna (Arjuna). fl., spikes usually panicled. l. sub-opposite, oblong or elliptic, usually 4in. to 6in., sometimes 10in., long, suddenly narrowed at base, often cordate, obtuse or very shortly acute at apex, nearly glabrous beneath when old; petioles rarely more than 1/2in. long, with two glands near the apex. h. 60ft. to 80ft. India. (B. F. S. 28). SYN. Pentaptera Arjuna. T. Benzoin (Benzoin). fl., racemes axillary, pedunculate, as long as the leaves. l. crowded at the thickened tips of the branches; oblong-lanceolate, crenate, obtuse or cuspidate, glabrous, sub-coriaceous, 3in. to 4in. long, narrowed into glandular petioles. h. 30ft. to 40ft. Mauritius, 1824. A milky juice is said to flow from this tree, which, when dried, is used as incense in Mauritius. SYNS. T. angustifolia, T. mauritiana.
T. Buceras (Buceras). fl. rather distant; spikes cylindrical, silky or villous-pubescent. l. variable, obovate or spathulate-lanceolate, glabrous above, silky and glabrate beneath. h. 20ft. to 30ft. West Indies, 1793. A monstrosity of the flowers, transformed into long, cylindrical, arcuate bodies, is peculiar to this species. SYN. Bucida Buceras (B. R. 907.) T. Catappa (Catappa). Olive Bark-tree; Malabar Almond-tree. fl. in short-peduncled, slender, spike-like, axillary racemes. l. crowded near the ends of the branchlets, shortly petiolate, obovate, obtuse, entire, membranous, 6in. to 12in. long, glabrous or pilose beneath, with two glands near the base of the midrib. h. 60ft. to 80ft. Tropical Asia, &c., 1778. (B. M. 3004.) T. Chebula (Chebula). Negroes' Olive-tree. fl., spikes terminal, often panicled. l. not clustered, often sub-opposite, ovate or elliptic, usually acute and rounded at base, 4in. to 5in. long, more or less hairy when young; petioles about 1in. long, often with two glands near the summit. h. 80ft. to 100ft. India, 1796. (B. F. F. 29; B. F. S. 27.) T. latifolia (broad-leaved). fl., spikes simple, pedunculate, cylindrical. l. approximate at the tips of the branches, obovate-oblong, 6in. to 12in. long, glabrate or pubescent beneath, tapering into petioles 1in. long, often with small glands or tufts of hair in the vein-axils beneath. h. 80ft. to over 100ft. West Indies, &c., 1800.
T. mauritiana (Mauritian). A synonym of T. Benzoin.
T. sericea (silky). fl., spikes silky, pedunculate, shorter than the leaves. l. alternate, crowded at the tips of the branches, oblong or obovate-oblong, 2 1/2in. to 3in. long, mucronulate, quite entire, clothed with silky, appressed hairs on both surfaces, narrowed into short petioles. h. 6ft. and upwards. South Africa, 1816. Shrub.