113 



Malacca 



Malacca and Singapore ; B. penangiana, King & Gamble, and 

 B. erythropkylla, King & Gamble, trees of Penang only collected 



scarce 



7. Palaqtjium, 12 species, among which is the most important 

 of the gutta percha yielders, P. Gutta, Burck. It is a large ever- 

 green tree with obovate coriaceous leaves densely covered beneatb 

 • i\£t P ubescence - ^ was first described by Sir W. Hooker 

 i«c7 • - aS Isonandra Gutta. In the Kew Gardens Report for 

 ? A 1S ?> 1V i U a l 0ng extract from ^ie report of Dr. Dennys, Curator 

 or the Kaffles Museum in Singapore, in 1878, who said that the 



a\u V ? - C ie ? J foaild on the sl °P es of low hills j n dense forest, 

 and that m order to procure the juice the " tree is felled and the 



bark ringed in spaces a foot wide and about l, r > to 18 inches apart. 

 J he upper end of the tree is usually cut off, as this is said to cause 

 it to bleed more freely. Buckets made of wood, cocoa-nut shells 

 or leaves stitched together are used to collect the juice, which is 

 then poured into a hollow bamboo." The juice is then heated 

 until it solidifies and can be moulded into a convenient shape for 

 transport. r 



The tree is known as 'Gutta Taban » or * Taban Merah ■ 

 merah meaning red. Dr. Dennys says that the term is applied 

 on account of the colour of the flower, but there seems some 

 reason to think that it is from the colour of the gutta percha. 

 Various other names are given by different writers and collectors, 

 but it seems so doubtful that they have properly identified the 

 tree that it is well to leave them for further local investigation. 



The following extract is from Mr. Wray's notes and describes 

 his experience of the tree in Perak : 



"This tree, from which the best kind of Gutta Percha is 

 obtained, grows, or rather used to grow, throughout the jungles of 

 the plains of Perak and a short way up the sides of the hills. 



" It seems to like a considerable amount of moisture, and will 



errow 



- . — o ^~«^. It is a tree of large 



size, attaining a diameter of 4 to 5 feet, and a height of between 



fill r%vk/"l 0/"W\ £*-.!. ° 



100 



" It has large thin buttresses around its base, which often present, 

 on their upper portions, a convex profile, and, on a large tree, attain 

 a height of 6 to 8 feet, and a span at the base of i to 5 feet from 

 the trunk. As far as I have yet seen, they never form an arch, 

 but have their lower parts buried in the earth, from the trunk to 

 their extremities, 



"When growing in the forest the tree has a clean, straight 

 appearance, the former being due apparently to the bark peeling 

 off in irregular pieces. The bark is of a rich brown-red colour, 

 and from one third to half-an-inch in thickness, 



" Inside the epidermis it is of an Indian-red tint ; and when 

 cut, the milk white sap comes out, at first in small beads, which, 

 enlarging, soon join and cover the injured part with a coating of 

 a cream-like consistency. The leaves are lanceolate on a young 

 tree, and roundish oval, with abruptly acuminate points on a tree 

 of mature growth. The margin is entire, and they are covered on 

 their undersurface with minute silky warm-brown hairs. The 



