62 MR. J. MIERS ОХ THE BARRINGTONIACE.E. 
60plo breviore: racemo terminali, spieatim plurifloro, rachi crassa suberecta; 
floribus alternis, speciosis ; pedicellis validis, longiusculis, apice crassioribus ; calycis 
limbo maximo, primum oblonge globoso, integre clauso, parallele nervoso, demum 
in lobos 2 oblongos сопсауов Ғавсов minute granulosos rupto; petalis 4, duplo 
longioribus, obtuse oblongis, albis; staminibus sanguineis, disco styloque ut in 
char. gen.; ovario infero, turbinato, late 4-gono, 4-loculari ovulis in quoque loculo 
5—6, suspensis: fructu majusculo, pyramidato, acute 4-gono, calyce coronato, imo 
umbilicato et cordatim truncato, abortu 1-loeulari et monospermo; регісагріо 
erassissimo, spongioso; endocarpio extus fibris lignosis crassiusculis intricatis 
tecto; embryone mesopodo. In Malacca, Java, Australia, insulis Maris Pacifici 
et Mauritianis: v. s. in herb. Mus. Brit. Java (Horsfield), in ins. St. Helena cult. 
(Home); in hb. Hook. Sincapoor (Anderson), Australia (Hill), Fiji (Barclay 8427), 
Fiji (Seemann 148) in ins. Maurit. (Blackburn), in ins. Mohelle (Meller); in 
herb. Soc. Linn. Penang (Wail. Cat. 3632 А), Sincapore (Wall. Cat. 3632 в), Cam- 
bodia (Wall. Cat. 3632 т): v. fruct. in Mus. Brit. et Kew. 
Linnzeus never saw this splendid plant, but described it in 1753 from the excellent 
materials furnished by Osbeck, who first observed it in 1752 upon an island near Java. 
Osbeck says it is а good-sized tree, often procumbent, with wide-spreading branches, 
hanging over the maritime shores or in the estuaries of rivers. He relates that he had 
much difficulty in collecting а specimen, owing to the furious attack of ants, which in 
myriads live in its fistulose branches. Тһе younger Linn:eus, in 1781, five years after 
the date of Forster's *Genera, and after his retirement to Germany, published a full 
description, purporting to be that of the Barringtonia speciosa, Forst., as obtained from 
Forster, and giving as its synonyms very different plants, the Mammea asiatica of 
Osbeck, the Commersona of Sonnerat, and the Butonica of Rumphius (tab. 114). Copying 
Rumphius, he states it to be a lofty tree, at the same time that he took the description of 
the leaves and inflorescence from Osbeck's details. А singular coincidence here occurs: 
his long diagnosis is in many parts a copy, word for word, of Forster's MSS description 
of his Barringtonia speciosa existing in the Paris Museum, according to Guillemin ; but 
the diagnosis of Linnzus omits all mention of the peculiar nectary and the unusual 
features given by Forster of the fruit and seeds—-characters that serve above all others to 
distinguish the two speciesas belonging to distinct genera. As it now stands, Linnsus's | 
diagnosis may be taken as a fair account of Agasta asiatica ; but as a description of Bar- | 
ringtonia speciosa it must be absolutely rejected. 
Osbeck states that its leaves are obovate, and more than 1 foot long; Horsfield’s вресі- | 
mens agree in form, аге 15 in. long, 7 in. broad, on а petiole 3 lines long, 2 lines | 
broad. Тһе specimens from Penang, Singapore, Cambodia, and other places above 
quoted, all accord in nearly similar dimensions and in the same length of petiole; but | 
Blume states that in his plant the leaves are 10—90 іп. long, 5-81 in. broad, on dixe 3 
5-65 lines long—probably a mistake. 
. We have, however, an admirable account of this plant, introduced into Salisbury in à 
living state under the name of Barringtonia speciosa. Тһе main leaves grew to a length 
of more than a foot ; but the upper leaves became gradually smaller. Тһе plant flourished 
