434 Myristicacecs. \Myristica. 



1. m. laurifolia, Hk. f. and Th. Fl. Ind. 163 (1855). ZtZala- 

 boda, S. Palmanikam, T. 



Burm. Thes. 172. M. tomentosa, Moon Cat. 70 (non Willd.). M. 

 diospyrifolia^ A. DC. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, iv. 29. Thw. Enum. 11. 

 King in Ann. B. G. Calc. iii. 290. C. P. 416. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 103. Bedd. FI. Sylv. t. 267. Ann. Bot. Card. Calc. iii. 

 t. 112. 



A large tree, with spreading branches, bark orange-grey, 

 rather smooth, young parts fulvous -puberulous ; 1. large, 

 5-9 in., oval or lanceolate-oval, slightly rounded at base, entire, 

 quite glabrous, coriaceous, lat. veins numerous, parallel, trans- 

 lucent, petiole \-i\ in., very stout, channelled above; fl. on 

 short stout ped., in nearly sessile clusters in axils of fallen 1., 

 the male more numerous, very shortly racemose, bract close 

 beneath fl. and shorter than it, oval, obtuse, rufous-pubescent ; 

 perianth ovoid or urceolate, \ in., rufous-pubescent, segm. 3, 

 short, acute, recurved ; anth. 10-14; ov. pubescent ; fruit on a 

 short stout stalk, ovate-ovoid, about 2 in., blunt, densely 

 covered with a fine scurfy rusty-orange pubescence, pericarp 

 very thick and fleshy; seed nearly li in., testa thin, brittle, 

 chocolate-brown, shining, endosperm cheesy, moderately 

 ruminate, aril much and deeply cut with lacerate linear segm. 

 as long as or longer than seed. 



Forests in the moist region, 1000-5000 ft., common, occasionally in 

 the dry region. Fl. October, June; orange-yellow. 



Also in S. India. 



Previously to 1855 this familiar tree was confounded with M. mala- 

 barica. Lam., of S. India. M. dactyloides, Gaertn. Fruct. 194, however, 

 seems to be M. laurifolia; his figure, t. 41, f. 2, agrees so far as it goes, 

 and he quotes Fl. Zeyl. n. 5S8, which is, no doubt, this tree, but was not 

 named by Linnaeus, as there was no specimen in Hermann's Herbarium. 



The petioles enclose the leaf-buds acting like stipules or bud-scales. 

 In old trees the stem and large branches emit short tufts of stout woody 

 aerial roots. The bark and leaves boiled are used as a gargle in throat 

 affections. An orange-red astringent gum exudes from the bark. 



The wood is light, soft, and pale yellow ; it is sometimes used for 

 tea-boxes. 



2. M. zeylanlca, A. DC. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, iv. 29 (1855). 

 Thw. Enum. 11, 399. M. laurifolia, var. zeylanica. Trim. Syst. Cat. 



Ceyl. 74. King, 1. c. 289. C. P. 2923. 



Fl. B. Ind. V. 103 {M. laurifolia, var.). Ann. Bot. Gard. Calc. iii. 

 t. III. 



A tall tree, bark reddish-grey, young parts slightly puberu- 

 lous ; 1. 5-9 in., lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute at base, 

 obtuse or subacute at apex, glabrous and shining, coriaceous; 

 fl. as in M. laurifolia, but ped. more slender and male fl. more 

 numerous ; fruit about 2 in. narrowly ovate-or oval-oblong, 

 pointed, the point often slightly curved, pericarp rather thin, 

 leathery ; rest as in the last. 



