GUTTIFERALES. 



CLUSIACE^. 



401 



Cambessedes remarks, that " Guttifers differ from Tutsans in their branches, 

 their leaves, and their ai'ticulated peduncles ; in the normal number of the parts of 

 their flowers, which appears to be two and its multiples, instead of five which obtains 

 in Tutsans ; in their anthers united the whole length with the filament, and not 

 articulated at its summit ; in their seeds, which often have an aril, and are solitary in 

 each cell of the ovary, a character found in no Tutsans (the monospermous cells 

 of the fruit of some Vismias is due to abortion) ; finally, in the structui-e of the embryo, 

 which is different in the two Orders. Tut- 

 sans, moreover, have the carpels often ~ 

 neai'ly distinct. Marcgraaviads are dis- 

 tinguished by theii" alternate leaves, the 

 singular form of their lower bracts, their 

 petals frequently united, their unsymmetri- 

 cal flowers, and by their seeds being very 

 small, and exceedingly numerous." Royle 

 remarks that Guttifers are in some re- 

 spects allied to Ebonyworts, as may be seen 

 by comparing species of Garcinia with some 

 kinds of DiospjTus. 



All natives of the tropics, the greater 

 part of South America ; a few are from 

 Madagascar and the continent of Africa. 

 They generally require situations combin- 

 ing excessive heat and humidity. 



An acrid, purgative, yellow gum resin 

 appears to be a very general secretion of 

 the various species of this Order. In one of 

 its forms it becomes the gamboge of com- 

 merce, a substance well known because 

 of its use as a pigment, and as an active 

 medicme dangerous in over-doses. The 

 best gamboge comes in the form of pipes 

 from Siam, and this is conjectm'ed to be the 

 produce of Garcinia cocliinchineusis ; ano- 

 ther kind, in lumps, has been said to be 

 derived from Cambogia gutta, called also 

 Hebradendron cambogioides ; but Dr. 

 Wight's last experiments are not favourable 

 to this supposition, and he expressly states 

 that the tears of Cambogia gutta " are a sub- 

 stance altogether distinct from true gam- 

 boge." Roxbm'gh says he received frequent samples of the gamboge of his Garcinia 

 pictoria from a correspondent at Telhcherry, and uniformly found it, even in its ci'ude 

 unrefined state, superior in colour, while recent, to any other kind he had tried, but 

 not so permanent as that from China. Dr. Royle confirms this statement. The yellow 

 juice, however, of Xanthochymus pictorius is said to be of very inferior quality. 



The seeds of Calophyllum inophyllum yield an oil, and a resin exudes from the roots, 

 which is supposed by some authors to be the same as the Tacamahaca of the Isle of 

 Bourbon. The true East India Tacamahaca is produced by C. Calaba ; and Maynas 

 resin is referred to the same species. Martins states that C. brasiliense also yields an 

 acrid aromatic lemon-scented resin. The Hog Gum tree of Jamaica is stated by Dr. 

 Bancroft to be a plant of this Order allied to Ochrocarpus and Garcinia. The gum is a re- 

 sinous substance, burnmg with a smoke and yielding an aromatic agreeable odour. — Hool'. 

 Journ. 4. 144. Dr. Macfadgen asserts that this Hog gum is the same as the mani or 

 oanani of Brazil, and therefore belongs to Moronobea coccinea, to which he refers it. 

 It is largely used in the West Indies for the same purposes as pitch, and also in the 

 form of pills, as a substitute for balsam of copaiva. Endlicher, on the contrary, refers 

 the Hog gum to Clusia flava. Balsam of Maria comes fi^om Verticillaria acuminata ; 

 and a great many more furnish similar balsamic substances. In the West Indies the 

 juice of Mammea is employed to destroy the chiggers (Culex penetrans), little insects 

 which attack the naked feet, introducing themselves into the flesh below the toe-nails. 

 The Butter and Tallow-tree of Sierra Leone, which owes its name (Pentadesma butyr- 

 acea) to the yellow greasy juice its fruit yields when cut, belongs to this Order. The 

 flowers of Clusia insignis weep a considerable quantity of resin from the disk and 



Fig. CCLXXXIII. 



Fig. CCLXXXIII. 



-Arnidea clusioides. 

 D D 



-A, St. Hilaire. 



