on the Hortus Malabaricus, Part IV. 22] 
Jamaica; and, if we must have the Oepata to be found in the West Indies, it 
should be rather the Avicennia nitida than the A. tomentosa, for its leaves, if 
not shining on both sides, are at least smooth. 
M. Lamarck (Enc. Méth. i. 330.) entirely rejects the Linnzean error of con- 
founding the Oepata with the Anacardium; but he retains that of uniting it 
with the hairy-leaved plant of the West Indies; yet the figure which he gives 
(MIL. Gen. t. 540.) of the 4. tomentosa is evidently very different from the Oepata, 
having the flower in racemes instead of panicles; nor does it even agree with 
his own specific character, * A. foliis ovato-oblongis, subtus tomentosis," for 
the leaves are lanceolated ; and I suspect that it, in fact, represents neither the 
Oepata nor the West Indian Bontia, although M. Poiret (Enc. Méth. Suppl. 
i. 539.) refers us to it for the Avicennia tomentosa. On the whole, the figure 
given by M. Lamarck bears a stronger resemblance to the Mangium album 
than to the Oepata, although its leaves are still narrower and sharper than 
even in the figure of Rumphius. 
Mr. R. Brown for his Avicennia tomentosa (Nov. Holl. i. 518.) quotes neither 
Rheede, nor Rumphius, nor the Bontia of the West Indies; but he considers 
the A. resinifera (Willd. Sp. Pl. iii. 395.) as the same; and I suspect that this 
is the plant figured by M. Lamarck. "We may therefore, on the whole, con- 
sider the Oepata as not yet introduced into the system of modern botany, on 
which account, in the catalogue of dried specimens presented to the library at 
the India House, I have mentioned it as follows : 
AVICENNIA OEPATA. 
Avicennia tomentosa. Hort. Beng. 46. 
Avicennia. Linn. Fl. Zeyl. 57. (exclusis synonymorum tribus prioribus.) 
Mangium album. Herb. Amb. iii. 115. £. 76? 
Oepata. Hort. Malab. iv. 95. t. 45. 
Sa-meek ruzek-wum Barmanorum. 
Habitat ad littora maris coenosa in India et intra et ultra Gangem. 
On my return from Ava to Calcutta, specimens and a drawing of the Oepata 
were transmitted to Europe, and given to Sir Joseph Banks, while a copy of 
the drawing remains at the India House. I shall here annex a description. 
262 
