150 EOTANY. 



hut promises to give a very beautiful varnish. 1 ' This 

 statement was controverted by a writer in our local peri- 

 odical at the time, who said he had obtained " fine gam- 

 boge of the very best description " from our jungles ; in 

 which he was no doubt correct, but he erred when he 

 added, that it came from the "true Stalagmitis Cambogioid- 

 es ;" for that plant has a quinary arrangement of its flow- 

 ers, while the arrangement of the flowers in those that 

 produce gamboge, in these Provinces, is quaternary. 



The hills that bound the valley of the Tavoy river, on 

 both sides, from their bases to their summits, abound 

 with a tree which produces a bright gamboge. It is Rox- 

 burgh's Garcinia pictoria, which he knew produced gam- 

 boge, but which he said was liable to fade. As soon as I 

 had satisfied myself of the identity of the trees by an exam- 

 ination of the inflorescence of our plant, compared with 

 Roxburgh's description ; I coloured a piece of paper, one 

 band with this gamboge, and another with the gamboge 

 of commerce ; and subsequently exposed both to the 

 weather equally for more than twelve months, but with- 

 out being able to discover that one faded any more than 

 the other. 



South of the mouth of Tavoy river, and throughout the 

 province of Mergui, there is found on the low plains at the 

 foot of the hills, and on the banks of the rivers, almost 

 down to tide waters, another species of garcinia that also 

 produces good gamboge. I have no doubt but it is the tree 

 from which Dr. Griffith furnished Dr. Wight with speci- 

 mens, and of which, the latter says, " I refer doubtfully to 

 •h's G. elliptical We will call it then G. elliptica, a, 

 species which Dr. Wight has on his list of " species im- 

 periecu) known." The foliation and female flowers are, 

 however, very well described, and to complete the descrip- 

 tion, 1 may add, the male flowers are pedunculated, but the 

 peduncles are short, and they might be characterized as 

 sub-sessile. The anthers, like those of the female flowers, 

 are sessile, depressed or flattened above, and dehisce cir- 

 cularly. The ripe fruit is globose, and not furrowed. 



Neither Wallich, Wight, nor Griffith appear to have 

 been at all aware that gamboge was a product of this tree. 



