INTRODUCTION. Xill 
The flowers of Sterculia fawtida * and the leaves of another 
species of Sterculia, both natives of the East Indies, emit the same 
abominable odour. The word Sterculia is derived from Stercus, 
“excrement.” The odour of the flowers of Pandanus fetidus, 
Roxburgh, a native of Bengal, is similarly offensive. The wood of 
Celtis reticulosa of Java also possesses a fecal odour. This, and 
other Javan trees such as Premna corymbosa, P. fetida, and 
Saprosoma arboreum, are all three distinguished by the same local 
name, Ki-tari, meaning ‘‘ Stink-wood,” because they all smell very 
bad. 
The Arum dracunculus, producing a large liver-coloured flower, 
exhales a stink of carrion so strong that few persons can endure 
it; in fact the similarity is so striking that blow-flies, carrion- 
flies, and other nauseous insects which frequent slaughter- 
houses mistake this flower for putrefied meat and ‘come to it 
from all quarters to deposit their eggs. The appearance of this 
flower is hideous ; it is not at all uncommon, and is often cata- 
logued by Englsh nurserymen. There are other plants which 
from their abominable odour are called carrion-plants, yet whose 
blossom exhibits considerable beauty, and they are extensively 
cultivated on that account, such as the Stapelias, a genus of 
Asclepiadaceee, natives of the Cape; their branches are mostly 
4-angled, toothed, and spiny, resembling Euphorbias. One of the 
finest of the species is the S. asterias. 
The Stapelia gigantea from South Africa has a smgular resem- 
blance to a star-fish in appearance, the five fleshy lobes of the 
corolla being of a biscuit-colour, with close, wavy, red veins, and 
the centre of the flower crimson. It is known, from its evil odour, 
as the “ great carrion-flower.’” The Phallus fotidus, a fungus, is 
equally distinguished. 
At a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society an 
enormous flower of a species of Aristolochia was exhibited from 
Kew. The flower was 22 inches long by 18 inches broad, and had 
a tail 34 inches long; it was of a creamy tint flushed with rose, 
* Rheede, Mal. iv. t. 36, 
