270 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1, 1912. 



The Story of Funtumia. 



WHILE the genus known generally as Kickxia (of the order 

 of Afocynaceac and the tribe of Echitideae) had long 

 been known to botanists as growing in Southern Asia, a 

 species of West African origin was first recorded in 1876 by 

 Benthani and Hooker, being subsequently described in 1879 as 

 Kickxia Africana. In 1898, Dr. Prcuss discovered in the forests 

 of Kamerun a species of Kickxia whose late.x produced first-class 

 rubber. This new species was designated by him as Kickxia 

 elastica, by which name the tree and its product are still known 

 in Germany. 



It was afterwards placed in a separate genus by Dr. Stapf of 

 the Kew Herbarium, L'p to 1905 the genus Kickxia had included 

 species inhabiting two widely separated areas, Malaya and 

 tropical .\frica; but after careful study. Dr. Stapf in that year 



M.\p OF Afric.\. 



came to the conclusion tliat the two .groups have every claim to 

 be considered as two distinct genera. While retaining the name 

 of Kickxia for the Malayan group, he proposed for the African 

 species (hitherto referred to Kickxia). that of Funtumia, derived 

 from "funtum" or "ofruntum," the vernacular name for the 

 rubber-yielding tree of the Gold Coast. He further demon- 

 strated that while various points of external similarity between 

 the two groups had misled botanists, there were differences in 

 their respective characters, as great as those in any t.vo genera 

 in the tribe of Echitideae. 



This African rubber-yielding tree has been d^alt with in a lucid 

 and comprehensive form by Mr. Cuthbert Christy, in his recent 

 work on the subject C)- While the brief review of this book in 

 these columns C) specified its leading features, the subject has 

 been treated by the author with such thoroughness as to invite 

 more detailed consideration. 



(0 The African Rubber Indu.stry ami l-'iiiitiiwia lllaslicii fKichxia); by 

 Cuthbert Christy, M.B.. t. M. (Edin.), I.nn.loii, I911. 



C) The Indi.^ Rubper World, .\ugust, 1911; ji. 416. 



DE.SCRIPTION OF FUNTUMIA ELASTICA. 



funtumia elastica is the current botanical name of the rubber- 

 yielding "funtum," "ofruntum," or "ire" tree of West Africa; 

 previously known as Kickxia Africana (as already e.xplained.) 

 It is an evergreen forest tree growing to a height of 80 to 1(X) or 

 130 feet, with an average girth, a yard from the ground, of 4 to 

 8 feet. The tall and tapering character of the trees (the trunks 

 of which are often without branches up to the height of 80 or 

 1(X) feet) renders them objects of prominence. With old mature 

 trees the bark is chiefly of a smooth dark green ; being almost 

 black at the base when the forest is dense, but a mottled grey in 

 the upper part of the tree, and where it stands in an open space. 

 The branches, few in number, and with scanty foliage, are only 

 at the top of the tree, while the leaves are oblong, varying con- 

 siderably in shape and size ; being normally from 5 to W/^ inches 

 long, and 2 to 4^ indies wide, with undulating surfaces. 



DEVELOPMENT AND RATE OF GROWTH. 



After dealing with the questions of flowers and fruits, Mr. 

 Christy next takes up the development of the sapling. The tiny 

 seedling during the first year expends most of its energy in 

 establishing its roots as deeply as possible. During the second 

 long rainy season, a year after germination, the young forest 

 plant grows to a height of 1 or IJ^i foot. Shoots appear in the 

 third year, bifurcating annually until the eighth or tenth year, 

 when the young trees are 20 to 30 feet high. .-Xs fast as the 

 higher branches appear, the lower ones dwindle, die, and ulti- 

 mately drop, so that one seldom sees more than two sets of 

 branches (that is, two sets of annual growths) on a forest tree 

 at one time. 



Under normal -\frican forest conditions, it is remarked that 

 Funtumia elastica is very slow-growing from a planter's point of 

 view, as in all probability is Hevca under similar conditions. It 

 is, however, added, that under cultivation the tree grows much 

 more rapidly than in the wild state — nearly three times as fast 

 under favorable circumstances. 



The condition of the saplings at various ages is recorded, as 

 below, as the result of the examination of several hundred speci- 

 mens in young forest in Uganda : 



Height Girth 



(feet). (inches). 



Fifth year 9.50 3.46 



Sixth year 13.43 4.28 



Seventh year 17.58 5.91 



Eighth year 24.32 7.91 



Xinth year 28.57 10.75 



Tenth year 30.00 12.93 



DISTRIBUTION OF FUNTUMI.\. 



Funtumia is. gererally speaking, confined to that portion of 

 Equatorial Africa bounded by the parallels 10 X. and 10 S., 

 being essentially a West .\frican tree. The dense forests in 

 which it thrives follow the northern shore of the Gulf of Guinea 

 as far as Dahomey, where a detour includes Southern Nigeria. 

 Crossing the center of the continent, and traversing the French 

 and the Belgian Congo, it reaches Uganda, Victoria Nyanza and 

 the Nile with some small outlying points on the east coast, in 

 Zanzibar and Mozambique. The principal countries in which 

 Funtumia is relatively abundant are thus: Liberia, Ivory Coast, 

 Gold Coast, Ashanti, Southern Nigeria. Kamerun, French and 

 Belgian Congo and Unganda ; being found to a less extent in 

 Northern Nigeria and Angola. Within the area more especially 

 near the equator, the tree is to be found in almost all the large 

 dense evergreen forests. In cases where the forest is hilly, the 

 rubber trees are found in belts at a certain level, generally near 



