>74 Thilomqlic Soeletj-^poiaftj', 



jbair, and no corolla. li has from four to fix ftamina In^* 

 ferted in the piiiil, and o( very (hort duration, which made 

 it be confidercd as a momecia. Its ovarium has two rounded 

 Jobes, and its ftyle divides itfelf into two hollow ftigmata. 

 One of the lobes of thje ovarium generally niifcarri.es, and the 

 otlier forms a red oval beny full of fharp points, terminating 

 in hooks and covered with a coriaceous and tuberous rind. 

 The kernel is oval, a little flatted, and lodged in a pulpy fub- 

 ftance, to which it adheres by the bafc. It is here {^^n that 

 this tree differs from the litchi only by the abfence of the co- 

 rolla, and becaufe it has only from four to 6x flamina inllead 

 of fix or eight. The points of its fruit, though long, are not 

 fuiHcient to make it be confidered as a diftin.6l genus ; fince 

 the fruit of the common litcbi is alfp interfperfed with fmall 

 points, which arife, in the like manner, from tubercles cir- 

 cumfcribed by irregular polygons. The pulp of this fruit is 

 fomewhat acid : it is ufed in the Moluccas for allaying the 

 thirft of thofe attacked with malignant fevers. The furgeon 

 to the expedition fent in queft .of La Peyroufe ufed this juice 

 with fuccefs for th,Q dyfentery. The fecond covering of the 

 fruit does not appear to Labillardierc a phar^^teV fuflicijsnt 

 . for retaining the genus nephelium ; hp fojunds his opinion on 

 the example of the viagntfera indicq, thp fruit of which have 

 fometimes a fecond covering almoft ligneous, which h wa;)t- 

 ing in the other varieties. 



The liffea ramboutan-ahe differs from the preceding by 

 the divifions of the calyx being more ob]tufe; the fi;igmata 

 pointed ; the being jnterfperfed with ti|bercles truncated at 

 the fummit, and the external covering thicker ; by its rifing 

 only to the heighjt of fifteen or fixteen feet ; and by its 

 branches being horizo|:ttal, and its leaves haying from fix to 

 eight folioles. Its pulp is as agreeable to the tafte as that of 

 Xhc liffea chinen/is. The taftc of its kernel refembles that of 

 a nut. An oil fimilar to olive oil, and fuperlor to that of the 

 coco nut, is extracted from it. 



The fame author read another memoiron a new genus of 

 palm called arenga. It is the palma indlca vinarid fecund a ^ 

 Saguertis feu Goviutus, (Rumph. Herb. Amb. Vol. I. p. 57.) 

 Jt conftitutes a new genus, which Labillardierc calls axengay 



from 



