=The Fruits= are the most conspicuous feature of the species and the most ready means of identification for several months in the year, as they are very persistent, in whole or in part. Each is a long, flat, ribbon-like pod, from 6-15 inches long and over 2 inches broad with as many as 15 seeds, embossed. A rich brown in colour, the pod splits into sections between each seed, the outer cover falling away and releasing the seed which has a wing the shape of each section. The seed itself is a small, flat, brown oval, and the papery wing is veined. The seeds fall one by one, leaving the skeleton rim of the pod itself persistent for some time. The pods are a prominent and disfiguring feature of the tree, in the dry season. =Uses.=—The leaves are appreciated as cattle fodder. An infusion of the bark is drunk as a tonic. The bark of stem and roots gives a fibre used as rope. [Illustration] =ERIODENDRON ORIENTALE= Steud.—_Rimi_. _The White-flowered Silk-Cotton_. MALVACEAE. This well-known tree is the tallest in the northern provinces and a height of 100 feet may be reached, with girths of 12 and 15 feet. Those who are familiar with the giant examples of the south will readily distinguish the difference in form between them and the type found in the north. In place of the clean bole up to 100 feet long with great horizontal limbs, the crown descends to within 10-20 feet of the ground and is, as a rule, very regular and shaped like a sugar-loaf, with a pointed top. The other type is seen but is not typical of the region. The branches, too, ascend at an acute angle and in the case of trees which have been lopped, a very common occurrence in the north, the new branches run up parallel with the main stem. Here and there occur branches which grow at right-angles to the main stem, so that one tree will show both types. The tree, as a rule, bears large, conical thorns, but there is a variety called “Rimi Masar” which has no thorns at all. The young tree shows a whorled arrangement of the branches. It is one of the quickest-growing trees and can be grown from poles, stuck upright in the ground. =The Bark= is pale grey and smooth. In young specimens it is a bright green, with or without a mass of stout, conical thorns with round bases and sharp, black points. The slash is crimson and white in patches, the white darkening to brown. =The Wood= is white with small, yellowish streaks, and is soft and fibrous when green, and brittle and inclined to be crumbly when dry. It rapidly rots on exposure to weather but will wear quite well when made up into any article, such as a stool. It is short in the fibre and has been rejected as a source of pulp for that reason. =The Leaves= are truly digitate with 7-9 lobes, each 3-4 inches long and narrow and pointed. They are dark green and smooth and slightly paler beneath, with a long stalk.