— 287 — 



„Theà montana" (Rlco.) Merr. has first been described by Blanco ') 

 under the name of Salceda montona. In 1880 Fernandez-Villar 2) justly 

 referred this plant to the species Camellia lanceolata (Bl.) Seem., but in 

 1905 Merrill, though admitting some iikeness wilh the latter, thought that 

 the Philippine plant essentially differed from it; this idea however was 

 based on the wrong diagnosis of Seemann! Hence he supposed his plant 

 to be a new species and named it Thea montana (Blco.) Merr. Neverthe- 

 less he hesitated to identify it with Salceda montana Blco., because 

 Blanco had recorded 13 free stamens whereas he himself found only3-5; 

 obviously Seemann's observations on free stamens as a generic distinction 

 had caught him. But when we know that Korthals found 10, and Koo'^- 

 ders and Valeton 3) only 5 free stamens in C. lanceolata, we must con- 

 clude that both Seemann's theory and Merrill's détermination hâve failed 

 hère and that the number of free stamens in „Thea montana'' = Camellia 

 lanceolata is obviously very variable. 



With respect to „Thea (Colpandria) connata" Craib, the author has 

 apparently gone by Pierre's diagnoses; anyhow he says (p. 6): „a T. lan- 

 „ceolata Pierre foliis tenuioribus arctius serratulis, filamentis staminum 

 „interiorum exteriorum tubo connatis, stylo ovario aequialto recedit." Thèse 

 features do noî. however, constitute a différence with the authentic C. lan- 

 ceolata (Bl.) Seem.! It is true that Craib's spécimen has a somewhatpecu- 

 liar habit, and orbicular, no angular seeds. It would be interesting to hâve 

 some more material from this région and perhaps from the adjacent French 

 colonies, which connect Siam with the Malayan archipelago. 



In java (residency Preanger Regeiitschappen) Camellia lanceolata is 

 locally of a rather fréquent occurrence. Fig. 13 pictures an isolated, rather 

 well developed tree. Some native names were recorded in my dissertation 

 (1916. p. 127); they are, however, of a somewhatfallacious nature. It seems 

 the natives do not utilise the plant; once I was told that they sometimes 

 eat the young shoots, which are dark-red, soft-haired and tender. For 

 sélection (it is for this purpose that I hâve specially investigated the 

 subject) we hâve used it as a stock in grafting experiments, as it might 

 well be more résistant against root fungi than the average tea plant. The 

 experiments hâve not yet however been crowned with success. 



B. C a m e 1 1 i a S a s a n q u a Thunberg. 



This plant has, by several authors, been mentioned in connection 

 with the perfuming of Chinese tea: the petals are said to be used on this 

 account; others however, among whom Tichomirow ^), emphalically con- 

 tradict the idea that this plant should ever be employed for anything but 

 to extract oil from the seed. In any case the plant has a réputation of it. 



') M. Blanco 1845, p. 374; 1878, p. 327. Blanco just as Blume took the plant for a 



Meliacea and described the staminal tube as a „nectarium." 

 2) C. Fernandez-Villar 1880, p. 19- The Index Kewensis has adopted his view. 

 2) KOORDERS and Valeton 1896, p. 304. 

 *) W. A TICHOMIROW 1892, p. 420. 



