53<=> 



THE TROPIC AL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1882, 



fashionable in England. In ray opinion, nothing in cul- 

 tivaCijj can )>o m )i*e handsome than Ooryanl-hei ni icrantha, 

 and thj Oatasebum lo:i^,^i5olium, gr.)win'^ jast Ije.uw tiie 

 crown of the Kta Paim, with long lidxibie strap-siiaped 

 leaves waving in the wiud, the lioivers in dense racemes, 

 is as fine in its way as some of tlie best. The simplest 

 and best way of growing the epiphytes is to wire them 

 on to the forks of a iow-growiug tree — the Calabash 

 (Orescentia Oujete) is best — with a dome of light f oh age, 

 and free from small branches below. lu choosiag a tree, 

 it may be necessary to take into acconnt the surrouuding 

 vegetation, and trim it iu such a way that whil^ it keejjs 

 away the wiud it may let in plenty of light and air. 

 Such trees as the Jlaugo and Tamarind are to be avoided, 

 for, as a rule, the former is too luxuriant, and the latter 

 kills the vegetation beueath it. Low-growing trees are 

 most suitable because the plants can be brought near to 

 the level of the eye and are protected from the wiuds. 

 Where there are plenty of trees iu the garden a collection 

 may be made very easily, aud some very large specimen 

 plants may be grown in a few years. Large plants 6 feet 

 through are to be seen now and then of such species as 

 Onciilium altissimum aud O. Lanceanum, and such plants 

 are very showy when flowering. In some of the river 

 districts Calabash trees are commonly seen loaded with 

 small plants such as Kodriguezia secunda, Notylia albida, 

 Ornithocfphalus gladiatus and Kpidundrum. Iu cultivation 

 I place large plants in the lower forks and the smaller 

 aloug the branches so that oue tree may have lOO or 

 morn plants upjo it. AYhere good suitable trees are absent, 

 or where space is not an object, some sort of house is necess- 

 ary. The simplest aud best is a strong hardwood frame 

 with a roof of split bamboo. The irregularity of the 

 Bamboo, which is laid as close as possible, ahows plenty 

 of air and lij;ht to penetrate, but at the same times shades 

 the plants sufficiently. Whether this house should have 

 latticed sides wi.l depend upon the amount of vegetation 

 or buildings near. In general, shrubs, a heilge or building 

 will partially shade some of the sides, but where the house 

 is quite open, latflcework from the top to about 3 feet 

 from the ground is necessary. In such a house the plants 

 grow well in baskets, some large, of hard wood, wht^re 

 the clumps are simply supported without anything to grow 

 in, and others of wire filled with burnt clay, in which 

 the roots grow well. I have never seen burnt clay used 

 in England, but I think if Orchid growers tried it they 

 would like it better than broken pots or brick. It is the 

 common road-making material here, ant I can oal}' compare 

 it to a brick sponge. If a heap is left upon the parapet 

 of tlifi road for a few months it will be covered with a 

 young growth of CTymnogramma calomelonas. All the small 

 Orchids and some of the large kinds do very well in the 

 burnt clay, but Cattleya superba, Catasetum loagifoiium, 

 and some others require blocks. The species of Coryauthes 

 grow on ants' nests, or the roots of the Orchid form the 

 nidus. The collectors, to drive out these ants, which sting 

 pretty severely, immerse the plants in tho water, and 

 very often cause them to rot. When in good condition 

 they require no baskets, but do well hung up iu a ii^ht place. 

 Some small plants do well on the stems of growing Tree 

 Ferns. Naturally there are many dift'ereuces ijetween the 

 locality of one Orchid and another; some wiil grow almost 

 without shade, while others must have a good canopy 

 above. If these illtFerences are .studied by the grower he 

 will soou find which plants require most light or moisture 

 and arrange accordingly. — J. K.. — Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



GAMBOGE: A NEW PKODUOT. 



Our attention was recently drawn to Gamboge as a 

 product of commercial value, to which more attention 

 should be given by planters in Ceyion, Southern India, 

 and the Straits. We accordingly print the following ex- 

 haustive account from Medicinal Flants by Bentley aud 

 Trimen, vol. 1 : — 



Garcinia HANBUitn, Tlook. f., in Jouni. Linn, Soc. Lond., 

 xiv, p. 485 (1875). 

 Slam Gamhoye. Gamhoye. 

 Syn. — G. Morella, var. pedicellata, Hanhury. 

 Fiyure. — Trans. Linn. Soc. Loml., xxiv, t. 50- 

 Jiescription. — A tree y5 — 50 feet high, with many very 

 sprijftdiug ^branches; bark orange-brown, thick ; young 



shoots smooth, somewhat angular. Leaves opposite, on 

 short petioles, without stipu es, 4 to 7 inches long, oval, 

 somewhat atte;iuated into the blunt twisted apex, entire, 

 glabrous on both siies, thick, dark green above, paler aud 

 with a prominiut midrib beneath. Flowers uuis.-xual, dice- 

 cious, of moderate size, coming from bosses ij the leaf- 

 axils on the wood of the previous year, the male on stout, 

 straight, roughish peduncles about ^ inch long, thickened 

 upwanls, iu fascicles of 3 — 5 together, and each with four 

 very small, shallow, imbricate, broad, acute, persistent bracts 

 at the base; the female (slightly larger) solitary (or 2 or 

 3 together), apparently sessile but with a very wide, ileshy, 

 soHd base suddenly narrowed to the attachmeat, which 

 is suiTouaded by a little involucre of 4 minute pointed 

 bracts as in tho male. Male flowers: — Sepals 4, decussate 

 in the bud, the two outer rather smaller, spreading, broadly 

 oblong, very obtuse, thin, roughish outside, concave ; petals 

 4, alternate with the sepals, imbricate in the bud, about 

 J inch long, squarish-orbicular, without a claw, concave, 

 very thick aud rieshy, glabrous, pale yellow, easily detached 

 and falling ; stamens 30 — 40, the filaments completely 

 united and fused into a siugle, central, entire, squarish- 

 hemispherical mass, upon which are closely placed the 

 small, sessile, box-like, truncate, angular, many-celled an- 

 thers, dehiscent by a circular chink ; no trace of ovary. 

 Female flowers: — Sepuls aud petals as iu the male, the 

 former persistent ; andrcecium represented by a hypogyiious 

 ring of about 20 stamiuodes united at the base, distinct, 

 irregular and club-shaped at the ends ; ovary large, glo- 

 bular-ovoid, smooth aud shining, 4-celled, with a single 

 axile ovule in each cell ; style none, stigma large, cap- 

 ping the ovary, bluntly 4-lobed, the lobes more or less 

 covered and bordered with wart-like teeth. Fruit the size 

 of a crab-apple, nearly spherical, slightly deprc-^sed at the 

 summit, aud often crowned by the stigmas, smooth, fleshy, 

 yellowish-green, surrounded at the base by the persistent 

 sepals, 4-celled or less by abortion. Seeds solitary in the 

 eels, rounded on the back, keeled at the inner edge; 

 embryo fildag the seed, with a large thick radicle and 

 no cotyledons; endosperm none. 



Habitat. — A native of Cambodia and Oochin-China on 

 the east coast of the Gulf of Siam, whence the who'o of 

 the gam'-»oge of commerce is exported. Our knowldge 

 of the tree is, however, derived from specimens which 

 were introduce I from Siam to Singapore more than 30 

 years ago, of which Professor Ohrisfcison pub.ished a brief 

 account in 1851. It was not, however, till 1864 that a 

 full botanical definition of the tree in que-ti n was given 

 by the late D. JIanbury, iu memory of whom it has been 

 since named by Sir J. D. Hooker. 



The flowers are produced in February and the fruit in 

 May and June. There was at one time a ii\'iug specimen 

 in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. 



O. Hanharii was not co isidered other than a slight 

 variety (jjedice^/ata) of G. Morella, Desrouss , by Hanbury, 

 and his opinion was shared by Thwaites, and mjre recently 

 by Lanessan; these botanists ail state that the stalked 

 male flowers constitute the only distinguishing character, 

 but Sir J, D. H d >kcr has .since, from a consideration of 

 the fruit and foliage, raised it to specific rank. Though 

 we think its claims to sujh distinction but slender, we 

 have adopted the nomeuclature of Hooker for the sake 

 of a clear definition of the plant amid, much confusing 

 synonymy. 



G. Morella itself (which has the male flowers sessile) 

 has long been known to yield good gamboge. It grows 

 abundantly in Oeylon and Southern India, and has re- 

 ceived a large number of names ; — G. Gutta, Wight, G. 

 ellipticay Wall., G. cainboyioides, Royle, dnnhoyia Gutta^ 

 Lindl. (non Linn.), Stalaymitis camhogioides, Murray (part), 

 Hehradendron camboyioideSj Graham, being the principal 

 ones. There are figures iii Wight, lUust. Ind. Bot., i, t. 

 44; Hook., Companion to Bot. Mag., ii, t. 27; Beddome, 

 Fl. Sylvatica, t. 86. G. pictorla, Koxb. {Hehradendron pic- 

 toriuin, Graham), a native of the wet high lands of Wy- 

 naad. iu Southern India, is referred to G. Morella by J. 

 D. Hooker, but Beddome, who figures it in ' Flora Syl- 

 vatica,' t. 87, considers it distinct; it is also figured in 

 Wight, Ic. Plant. Ind Orieut. t 102. L;messm states 

 that this has pedunculate male flowers, aud is the same 

 as G. Haahurii. If this were so the latter name would 

 be superseded ; but the male flowers are undoubtedly »es- 



