391 
superne irregulariter et obtuse dentata, inferne longe cuneato- 
angustata, tenuiter carnosa, viridia. ma 7-9 cm. diametro, 
subplana, 2-5-ramosa ; rami dichotomi, sublaxi, bracteati, virides. 
Bracteae interiores magnae, foliiformes, ceterae multo minores 0°8-2°5 
cm. longae, 3-10 mm. latae, oblique cuneato-oblanceolatae, acutae 
vel obtusae, integrae. Flores 5-10 mm. sejuncti, sessiles, 1°3 cm. 
diametro, Sepala 4-5 mm. longa, lineari-subulata, obtusa, carnosa, 
viridia. Petala 5, stellatim radiata, mm. longa, 2 mm. lata, 
lanceolata, acuta, lutea. Stamina 10, erecta, lutea. COarpella arcte 
contigua, erecta, pallide lutea. 
origin of this plant is not known with certainty. It was sent 
to Kew for name on Sept. 24, 1912, by Mr. Robert Woodward, 
Junior, of Arley Castle, with the statement that it had appeared in 
ed with some seedlings of a species of Sambucus, of which the 
seeds were collected in the Rocky Mountains, near Glacier, on 
Sept. 3, and sown on Noy. 11, 1911, germinating in May, 1912. 
As the Sedum is stated to have a rather woody root-stock with 
many short shoots, it seems scarcely credible that it is only of four 
months’ growth from seed. There is just a possibility, however, that 
it may be a stray seedling from a bed about 3 yards away, where 
seedlings of Wilson’s 1910-1911 Chinese collection are growing. 
This latter assumption seems more probable, because there is no 
species nearly allied to it known from North America, whilst its 
nearest ally (S Azzoon, L.), is a native of Northern Asia. Sedum 
Woodwardii, however, is not represented among Wilson’s dried 
plants at Kew. 
LIV.—THE SOURCE OF SIAM BENZOIN. 
(Styrax benzoides, Craib). 
The lack of information as to the source of Siam benzoin has 
-assistance to trace the origin of the product Dr. Kerr was 
communicated with on the subject. We are much indebted to 
Dr. Kerr for his kind reply to our enquiry from which we have 
extracted the following interesting information. 
The Styrax tree which grows on Doi Sootep and which is fairly 
common at 600-1200 m. altitude in evergreen jungle, particularly 
in that type of forest where Quercus Junghuhnit predominates an 
where the soil consists of a stiff red clay overlain by a thick layer 
of humus, was, from flowering material only, believed to be 
S. Benzoin (Kew Bull. 1911, p. 409). The receipt of fruiting 
specimens showed, however, that it was not S. Benzoin but a new 
species closely allied to S. suberifolius and since described as 
S. benzoides (Kew Bull. 1912, p. 267). S. benzoides, on Doi Sootep, 
grows rapidly and attains a height of 12-15 m. and a girth of about 
9 dm. but most of the trees are smaller though in other parts 
larger trees are reported. Several Kamus, natives of the Luang 
Prabang region from which most of the gum comes, have, without 
a leading question, identified the Doi Sootep tree as ton kum yan, 
kum yan being the Lao and Siamese name for gum benzoin. It 
