MELALEUCA CaJuPUTI. ORD. XXIX. Hesperidex. 59 
to consider the tree which yields the genuine cajuput-oil as a distinct species, 
and from the name of its medicinal product, to call it Melaleuca Cajuputi,;* 
as Dr. Roxburgh has termed it in his catalogue of the Calcutta Botanic 
gardens. (3 
The following account of the propagation, &c. of this plant, we transcribe 
from the Transactions of the Medico-Botanical Society of London, from the 
description furnished to the Society by Thomas Henry Colebrooke, Esquire, 
E.R.S, from the MS. of Dr. Roxburgh :—“ During my absence at the Cape 
of Good Hope, in 1798, Dr, John Fleming had charge of the Botanic garden ; 
at the same time, Mr. Smith, the nurseryman, was employed on the Molucoa 
Islands, collecting plants for the garden, consequently an excellent time for 
obtaining growing plants of these trees. Dr, Fleming, therefore, gave Mr. 
Smith strict orders to be very careful to get the proper sort (two or. three 
being mentioned by Rumphius) from which the best oil was obtained. This 
commission Mr. S. executed to our satisfaction, many thriving plants having 
been sent to the garden by the close of the year, where they grow freely ; 
and in six or seven years they began to blossom at various times of the year, 
which they have hitherto continued to do, and to ripen their seeds perfectly. 
From them, numerous plants have been reared, and not only distributed over 
many parts of the continent of India, but sent to various other parts of the 
world. It is from the original young trees, now (1811) thirteen years old, 
that the botanical description and accompanying figures are taken.+ This 
species of Melaleuca may be cultivated either by seed or root ; when by the 
latter, slender pieces of the root are cut into small bits, and laid horizontally 
in the earth (this is done in the rainy season) when they readily produce roots. 
The oil is obtained by distillation from the dried leaves. In the island of 
Banda large quantities are prepared, ‘and sent to Holland in copper flasks, 
from whence it is imported into this country. 
Qualities, &c. The oil of cajuputi, as it comes to us, has a pungent taste, 
like that of camphor; its odour is very powerful, resembling a mixture of 
* We are told by Dr. Ainslie, that this species of Melaleuca appears to have owed its 
specific name to its colour, Cajuputi, or Kayu-puti, in the Malay language signifying 
white wood, It is also known in the Malay countries under the names of Galam, Daun 
Ketsjil, &c.—Materia Medica, vol.i. p. 261. > 
+ Our drawing was copied from the one published by the Medico-Botanical Society 
of London, from the original drawing, furnished to that Society by T. H. Colebrooke, 
Esq. F.R.S. Ed. 
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