212 SIR J. D. HOOKER ON CASTILLOA ELASTICA 
III. Fruit referred to Ule from the Belize Estate and Produce Company.—Fruiting 
receptacle 1-14 in. in diameter; crowns of the ripe carpels prominent, acute, 
acutely 3-4-angled. Seeds 2 in. іп diam., more or less immersed in the free crown 
of the carpel.—Honduras and Nicaragua. This appears to be a small seeded 
variety of the Darien species. (Plate X XVIII. figs. 4-6.) 
IV. Fruit of the Tunu, or gutta-percha yielding plant, from the Belize Estate and 
Produce Company.—Fruiting receptacles 2-21 in. in diam. ; crowns of ripe carpels 
very low, subacute, acutely 3-4-angled. Seeds 4 in. in diam., immersed in the 
receptacle far below the crowns of the carpels.—Spanish Honduras. (Plate XXVIII. 
figs. 7-9.) 
Before dismissing the subject, it may be well to allude to the remarks made by 
Mr. Cross on the formation of disarticulating branches on the young plants of the 
Caucho, and which, no doubt, occur in other species of Castilloa. They are thus 
described by Mr. Cross in a letter dated April 26, 1877 :—“ In the forests the young 
Castilloa plants push up rank stems rapidly to a great height, which, during the 
progress of growth, throw out at variable distances a number of leafy shoots. These, 
on becoming mature, begin to wither, and finally separate from the surface of the trunk 
by an articulated or jointed process. I did not consider them true branches, just 
because the wood was not properly formed, the buds were imperfectly developed, and 
I found they were not easily propagated. It may be different with shoots developed by 
compressed pot culture. But when the tree begins to flower, true branches are formed 
which do not drop off. At times the trunk, after running up to a certain height, 
divides into two or three stems, each furnished with numerous short, stiff, upright 
branches, which are permanent, and ripen fruit abundantly. Probably, however, the 
description of shoots alluded to are produced at times during the entire period of the 
growth of the tree. A similar phase of growth appears to take place with other species 
of forest trees in the hotter parts of America.” 
The above information is given in abstract by Mr. Lynch, Curator of the Cambridge 
Botanie Garden, with due reference to its author, in his interesting paper “ Оп the 
Disarticulation of Branches,” published in the 16th volume of our Journal (p. 182), 
accompanied by an excellent drawing of the phenomenon, and the observation that the 
deciduous branches strike under cultivation as freely as the permanent ones. The 
figure of Cervantes shows a contraction at the base of the branches, where disarticulation 
would occur.—J. D. HOOKER. 
In the summer of 1875 the India Office despatched Mr. R. Cross (who, in 1860, had 
accompanied Dr. Spruce in his expedition to Ecuador to collect plants of Cinchona 
