Plants of Village Waste.

13. Cassia Tora, locally called tarota, is used in the beginning of the rains as a vegetable but is a most harmful weed as it comes up in great profusion, is not eaten by cattle and does very, material damage to grazing grounds by killing the grass. Cassia auriculata (tarwad), with large yellow flowers, is found in poor soils along the foot of the Satpura range and on roadsides; the bark is known to possess tanning properties but it is not so used in the District. Achryanthes aspera (agara) is a very common erect herb, ribbed between angles and much enlarged at the nodes, found generally in babul bans; it has burrs which stick to the clothes; the leaves are used for worship by the Hindus, and the seed possesses medicinal properties. Martynia diandra (wagnak) is found in waste fields, field borders and deserted village sites. Ocimum sanctum, basil (tulsi), is generally grown for worship in courtyards of Hindu houses and temples as it is held to be sacred. Tamarix indica (jhau) forms dense thickets in the beds of some rivers. Indigofera tinctoria, wild indigo (unhali), is generally found in patches on the waste land near villages and roadsides. Both the species of datura. Datura Stramonium and Datura fastuosa are found on rubbish heaps, of villages and near temples; the leaves are used medicinally but the seed is poisonous, producing a species of intoxication, sometimes resulting in death.

Roadside Plants and Garden Trees.

14. Melia indica (nim), Albiztia, Lebbek, (siris), Ailanthus excelsa (maharuk), Mangifera indica, the mango (am), Melia azadirachta (nim or bagain), Bassia latifolia (mahua or mohwa), Ficus bengalensis (bar) the banyan are commonly planted along roadsides and camping grounds; Sesbania aegyptiaca (saora) is grown in betel leaf gardens for supporting the creepers and affording shade. Moringa pterygosperma (shenga, or sojna) is cultivated in the open country; its long drooping, fleshy pods being used as a vegetable. Feronia elephantum (kavit, wood apple or elephant apple) is less commonly found along field borders. Dalbergia Sissoo is cultivated as an avenue tree, and is an import from Northern India. The handsome Sapindus Mukorossi (rithia) or soapnut tree, is sometimes grown in gardens. The scrambling shrub of Clerodendron phlomoides (takal), with its pleasant and sweet smelling white flowers, is common in hedges. Euphorbia Tirucalli (thuar), a plant with a round green stem, full of milk, makes a good hedge.

Forest and Wasteland Trees.

15. Almost all kinds of trees found in other plain Districts of Berar are met with in Amraoti. The following may be mentioned as commonly found. The teak (Tectona grandis) grows naturally in the north of the Morsi taluk, but not to any large size. The babul (Acacia arabica) is the most common and one of the most useful trees, thriving best in deep black soil with a permanent but not excessive bed of moisture in the subsoil. Dhaora (Anogeissus tatifolia), tiwas (Ougeinia dalbergioides) and dhaman (Grewia tiliafolia) are less common and do not attain any size. Hiwar (Acacia leucophlæa) with its dirty white bark and sweet smelling white flowers is commonly met with on dry stony soil and waste lands in the open country; the bark is locally used for tanning and the leaves and pods are greedily eaten by wild animals. Acacia eburnea (murmatli), Prosopis spicigera (saondar), with pinnate leaves and flowers in slender spikes and pods which when young are used for vegetables, and hingan (Balanites Roxburghii) are the common associates of the kuria variety of babul on poorer soil. Bauhinia racemosa (apta) is a common small tree with thin stem and straggling crown, leaves of which are distributed at Dasahra. The white and smooth barked Terminalia Arjuna (kahu) fringes some of the perennial streams. Terminalia belerica (baheda,) with its very evil smelling flowers, grows sporadically, and is generally associated with a stunted form of Terminalia tomentosa (sajad or ain) with black and furrowed bark. The frankincense tree or salai (Boswellia thurifera) is the characteristic tree of the higher hill slopes in forest tracts. Pterocarpus Marsupium (bijasal or bija), much sought for musical instruments and also for cart poles, is found occasionally in Morsi taluk. Dalbergia latifolia (shisham), Bombay black wood, is only found on the outer ranges of the Satpura range in the Morsi taluk; the leaves are used medicinally for cattle. The silk cotton tree semal (Bombax malabaricum) is found here and there in the open country; its roots are used medicinally; the red flowers serve as food in times of hardship, and the pods furnish silk cotton used for stuffing cushions, &c. Turning now to smaller trees we may mention palas (Butea frondosa), the roots of which are used for making ropes, the leaves as dining plates among Hindus, and as fodder for cattle, while the red flower yields the dye used during the Holi festival. The wild plum Zizyphus vulgaris (ber), the stems of which are made into spindles and thorns used for fencing; Acacia Catechu (khair), a bush which exists in very poor soil; Celastrus senegalensis (bharati); Flacourtia Ramontchi (gurguti); Woodfordia floribunda (dhewti); and the Mysore thorn Caesalpinia sepiaria (ckilati), with its tufted white, red and blue flowers, are commonly found throughout the District.

Bamboos.

16. A few clumps of Dendrocalamus striclus (bans) are found in the north of Morsi taluk. Bambusa arundinacea (katang bans) has been introduced into some parts of the District.

Grasses.

17. Andropogon Martini (tikhari or rusa) yields a valuable oil and is easily recognised by the bright red colour of its bracts and its characteristic lemon scent; the stems are used for thatching; it is found in some parts of the District but is not common. Sorghum halepense (boru) or elephant grass grows very thick and high in rich alluvial soils and deserted village sites; Cynodon dactylon (hariali or dub), a small perennial grass with creeping stem, rooting at the nodes, yields an excellent fodder grass, especially for horses; it is the best grass for lawns. I sckaemum laxum (sahada), is the best fodder grass when cut before seeding at the end of the rainy season, and when fully matured (in March) is useful for thatching. Ischaemum sulcatum (paonia) is a very thin and soft grass much valued for fodder. Andropogon contorlus (kusal) or spear grass is used as fodder when young and before it has seeded and for thatching when mature. Andropogon pachyarthrus (gondali), is a grass which has several varieties. It is readily eaten by cattle before the seeds are ripe. Andropogon foveolatus, Silkia Marvel, and Iseilema laxum (katri) are also commonly used for fodder. Ghod sahada, ghod kusli, lokhandi, bhusi, kans, &c, do not afford pasturage in years of plenty but are eaten by cattle in years of scarcity.

Melghat.

18. The botany of the Melghat jungles is naturally a far more complicated matter and demands for its adequate treatment more space than may fairly be allotted to it in an Amraoti District Gazetter. Detailed information will be found in Mr. Dickenson's Notes on the flora of the Berar Division and in Mr. D. O. Witt's Forest flora of the Berar circle, as well as in Messrs. Dickenson and Bagshaw's working plan of the Bairagarh and Gugumal reserves and Sir Dietrich Brandis Suggestions for the Melghat Forests. The first mentioned of these books gives particular attention to the Melghat flora. As to the uses to which the forest tribes of that taluk turn their surroundings, Mr. Bartlett writes as follows:― ' In building their huts they use poles and rafters of almost any species. The walls are of bamboo mat and the roof of teak leaves and grass held down with rough wooden poles. For ploughs they prefer tiwas (Ougeinia dalbergioides) but use most hard woods, and poles are usually of saj (Terminalia tomentosa), dhaora (Anogeissus latifolia), tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), or dhaman (Grewia tilifaelia). For other implements dhaura is mostly used. Their carts are frequently constructed of teak, but if other species are conveniently near the village, they prefer tiwas (Ougeinia dalbergioides) or kusum (Schleichera trijuga) for naves, dhaura for axles and siwan (Gmelina arborea) or thekda (Garuga pinnata) for the yoke. Ropes are made from the fibres of palas roots (Butea frondosa), the mahul creeper (Bauhinia Vahlii), the bark of the karai or kondara (Sterculia urens), but green bamboo is generally used for all temporary purposes. As fuel they burn the wood nearest to hand. In food, however, they utilize a variety of forest produce. Of trees, the red fleshy petals of semal (Bombax malabaricum) are dried and ground with juari as flour, and the thickened roots of the young trees are eaten raw. The chief fruits are those of the tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), char (Buchamania latifolia), sakria (Zizphus rugosa), ber (Zizyphus vulgaris), aonla (Phyllanthus Emblica), jamun (Eugenia Jambolana), sita kugathal (Embelia Ribes) and gular (Ficus glomerata). They are eaten raw or cooked or dried and ground as floor. The fruits of the siwan (Gmelina arborea), bhilawa (Semecarpus Anacardium), kusum (Schleichera trijuga) and the kernels of baheda (Terminalia belerica) and karai  (Sterculia urens) are also crushed and eaten. The fruit and bulb shaped stem of the wild plantain (Musa superba) are eaten raw, and the dried corolla of the mahua (Bassia latifolia ground as flour is a staple diet. Of the wild yams gogdu (Ischaemum rugosum) bolar, kulu (Dioscorea daemona) and dhorkakri (Coccinia indica) are the chief. The Korku varies his food with herbs and leaves fried in oil and seasoned with salt, chillies, garlic and turmeric. They mostly use the leaves of the creeper kumbeli (Vitis tenuifolia), the tarota (Cassia Tora) and koelari (Bauhinia purpuria), the petals of the beautiful kachnar flower (Bauhinia variegata) and the young fruits of the pendra (Gardenia turgida) and the chillu tree (Cordia Myxa). The chief fodder grasses of the Melghat are sahada (Ischaemum laxum) gondali (Ischaemum pachyarthrus), kundha (Ischaemum pilosum), and muehhali or harali (Iseilema Wightii or Cynodon dactylon); kusli the spear grass (Heteropogon contortus) and rusa (Andropogon Martini stapt.) are preferred for thatching. A grass called moya is used for rope making and the seed of the two grasses called saveli and babhajhara are eaten like rice.'