bassia

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of tropical trees found in the East Indies and Africa, natural order Sapotaceæ. Several species are valuable for the oil yielded by the seeds and for their fleshy flowers, which are largely used as food in central India, and yield a coarse spirit by distillation. The mahwa-tree, B. latifolia, is cultivated throughout India for these purposes. The mee or illupi, B. longifolia, is a large evergreen tree of India. B. butyracea yields a solid white oil known as fulwa-butter. The bark, leaves, and oil of these trees are used in rheumatic and cutaneous diseases and the timber is hard and very durable.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. summer cypress