•94 ON THE VEGETATION OF MALAYSIA, 



The flavour resembles that of the Pine-apple. This is the Hog- 

 plum or Tahiti Apple, better known to botanists under the name 

 of Spondias dulcis. 



Mata kuching or Cat's-eye, the well-known Jungle-nut, growing 

 in close racemes, consisting of a triangular drupe containing a single 

 bony one-seeded nut with an opalescent kernel from which the name 

 Cat's-eye is derived. This is Canarium commune, L., belonging to 

 the BuRSERACE^, an order much resembling the Orange tribe, but 

 whose fruit has a shell which splits into valve-like segments. The 

 three-cornered nuts are eaten safely when cooked, and an oil 

 obtained from them which is eaten when fresh, and burned when 

 stale. Myrrh and frankincense are also derived from the gum. 

 There are several species of Canarium, a name which seems to be 

 derived from the Malay word Kanari, the Java almond. The 

 resin is called Gum-elemi in India. Another species is called 

 Kanari rainjak by the Malays, and another in the Moluccas Kanari- 

 itam and Damar-itam, and Damar gala-gala; while, according to 

 Bisschop Grevelink, Canarium dichotomum, Miquel, is the species 

 to which the name of Damar mata kuching is applied. In the 

 same order is Protium javanicum, Burm., the Tingulong of the 

 Malays, a stout tree of medium height which grows in Java and 

 the Moluccas. The fruit, though edible, is but little esteemed, yet 

 it yields an aromatic essential oil with many uses. 



The large order of E-ubiace^e scarcely furnishes any fruits of 

 importance, and of these none are known in Malaysia either 

 indigenous or cultivated. Sarcocephalus is a genus well represented 

 in the province, but the fruit-bearing Native Peach of Africa, 

 S. esculentus, has not come into use. Two species of Morinda, 

 which are very abundant on the coast (if. citrifolia, and persicce- 

 foUa), one of which is widespread in Australia and serves as a fruit 

 for the natives, are common. 



Amongst the Sapotace^ Achras sapota, L., or the Sapodilla 

 Plum, (in Malay Chicos, Javanese Sawo) is extensively cultivated 

 in and around Malacca, though it is a plant of West Indian or 

 Central American origin. It is a tall straight tree without knots 



