71 MYRISTICA AROMATICA. 
colour. Branches in regular equidistant verticils, nearly 
horizontal, with their extremities often drooping. 
Leaves alternate, sub-bifarious, short-petioled, elliptic, entire, 
smooth on both sides, but paler underneath; when bruised 
faintly aromatic; length from three to six inches, and from 
one to two and a half broad. 
MALE. 
Racemes axillary, often 2-cleft near the apex, with divisions 
spreading. 
Flowers numerous, on ascending, clavate, pedicels, nearly as long 
as the peduncles. 
Bractes of the pedicels solitary, minute, one-flowered, caducous ; 
of the flowers also solitary, but larger, fleshy, more perma- 
nent, and embrace two-thirds of the base of the calyx. 
Calyx one-leaved, pitcher-shaped. Mouth 3-toothed. 
Corol none. 
Filament single, rising in the centre of the calyx, and nearly of the 
same length, thick, linear, oblong, and obtuse. Anthers, in 
general about nine pairs, linear, adjoined lengthways to the 
upper half of the filament, but their chief bond of connection 
appears to be at their lower extremities. 
FEMALE flowers in general upon a separate tree. 
Peduncles axillary, solitary, rather longer than the petioles, while 
in blossom ascending, one-flowered. 
Bractes: that of the flower as in the male. 
Calyx as in the male. 
Corol none. 
Germ above, oval. Style very short, composed of two coalesced 
portions, each crowned with a diverging obtuse stigma. 
Drupe round, fleshy, size of a peach, and also somewhat downy, 
marked with a suture which passes between the styles, one- 
celled, when ripe two-partible, opening spontaneously from 
the apex. 
Seed: Nut roundish-ovate, affixed to the base of the cell, covered 
with a yellow, multifid, coriaceous aril (mace) marked with 
furrows corresponding with the divisions of the aril, other- 
wise smooth ; of a dark brown colour, and tolerably hard. 
Nucleus (common nutmeg,) like the nut of a roundish-ovate shape, 
also furrowed, affixed by its apex, but the embryo is placed 
in the base, which consists of a small bifid point, lodged be- 
tween two, variously convolute, fleshy-farinaceous, fragrant, 
and gratefully aromatic lobes. 
EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES. 
Fig. 1. A sprig of the male tree in blossom. 
a. One of the male flowers, and its bracte x. 
The same laid open, to show the stamina. 
A perpendicular section of the columnar filament. 
A transverse section of the same, and its nine pair of anthers. 
An anterior view of one pair of the anthers detached from 
the column. 
A back view of the same. 
A section of one of the lobes. 
Natural size. 
Cm o> 
oe 
These seven are all magnified, particularly the last four. 
Vig. 
A sprig of the female tree, with flowers, and fruit in 
their various stages. Natural size. 
MYRISTICA AROMATICA. 72 
h. One of the flowers magnified, and laid open, to show the 
 ~pistil. 
i. The ripe fruit opening, which exposes to view the mace, 
spread over the shell of the nutmeg. 
k. Half of the mace is here thrown back, exposing the shell of 
the nutmeg to view. 
1. The shell cut round, with the entire nutmeg resting in it. 
m. A perpendicular section of the seed, or nutmeg, exposing the 
embryo, or rudiment of the future plant, lodged in its base. 
n. The same embryo magnified ; the point o becomes the root, 
and + the stem. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
It is now well known that the description of this plant in the 
Supplementum Plantarum of the younger Linnzus, taken from 
Sonnerat, is that of another species. 
La Marck’s description, so far, at least, as relates to the stamens 
and style, appears to me to have been taken from the flowers of 
some other species of Myristica, which he received from the Isle 
of France, for the true nutmeg. Consequenily the sort they have 
been long cultivating there, with so much care, is not the real 
Banda nutmeg ; which the Dutch so long, and so effectually mo- 
nopolized. For I can scarce think it possible, that any botanist 
could consider the thick firmly consolidated filament of the male 
flower of the true nutmeg, to be composed of from six to twelve 
smaller partible filaments, joined in one bundle; nor are there the 
smallest rudiment of any smaller filaments, connecting the linear 
anthers to the column (filament) in the centre; nor are the anthers 
themselves united, scarce even the two lobes which compose the 
pair, as I have called them. 
The foregoing description, and accompanying figures are taken 
from growing plants in the Honourable Gompany’s Botanic 
Garden at Calcutta, and from numerous specimens (preserved in 
spirits and otherwise ;) collected and sent from Great Banda, Banda- 
Neira, Pulo Ay, &c. Molucca Islands, since they were conquered 
by the English, in February, 1796. 
At Bencoolen, where this tree was introduced in 1798, they 
have grown with the greatest luxuriance ; for in five years they 
had arrived at from ten to fourteen feet in height, when (in 
October and November, 1802) two hundred and forty-seven trees, 
out of about six hundred, blossomed. About half of these were 
completely male; the rest female ; and were expected to ripen 
their fruit in February, and March, 1804. 
In the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, where the young trees are 
about the same age, the most luxuriant are from six to ten feet 
high, and in April, 1803, three male trees only blossomed, for the 
first time. 
At Prince of Wales’ Island, where by far the most extensive 
plantations are formed, they are in a middle state, between Ben- 
coolen and Bengal. 
Since writing the above (now January, 1805} the trees at Ben- 
coolen have produced quantities of ripe nutmegs, of a good quality. 
Those at Prince of Wales Island, so far as I can learn, have not 
produced any fruit. In the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, two trees, 
seven and-a-half years old, and ten and twelve feet high, bore 
only male flowers for the two first years of their blossoming. 
Lately (at the close of 1804) they have produced only female 
flowers, some of which have proved fertile. 
