Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, Fiji, and Tahiti. 
The centre of distribution is western Malesia; twenty two 
species occur in the Malay Peninsula, twenty in Sumatra 
and adjacent islands, fourteen in Kalimantan (Borneo), 
five in the Philippines, and five in Java. Thirteen species 
are endemic to the Malay Peninsula, seven to Sumatra, 
five to the Philippines, six to Kalimantan, and one to 
Java. 
The cultivated species, which have been mentioned 
in the preceding pages, also occur in the wild state: B. 
Motleyana — in the lowland forests of the Malay Penin- 
sula; B. racemosa — in the forests of Java, Sumatra, and 
probably Kalimantan; B. sapida — in the forests of 
India, at the base of the Himalayas, in Burma, and in 
Thailand. According to Charles Pickering (1879), B. 
sapida has been cultivated for a long time, from at least 
1000 B.C. Yet, it cannot be regarded as highly domes- 
ticated. So far as I know the dates of the first domesti- 
cation of the other species have not been recorded. 
Studies on the variation and cytogenetics of the species 
of the genus have not been carried on, or at least very 
little, if anything, has been done in this respect. 
When we speak of the distribution of a species, natu- 
rally the question always arises — how does it spread? 
Roughly, but not strictly, the fruits of Baccaurea can 
be differentiated into two types: a capsule, which splits 
open when dry; and a berry, which does not. In both 
types, the seeds are enclosed by an aril. Whether this 
is a “‘true arillus’” or just an ‘‘arillode’’ (a false arillus) 
is still doubtful. Ridley suggested that the aril in Bac- 
caurea is but a modification of the testa. The actual 
origin of the aril, however, is comparatively unimportant, 
although it is a point of interest in the evolution of the 
species. Regardless of whether or not it be a true or a 
false aril, it plays an important role as the agent of dis- 
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