248 On the Gamboye of the Tenasserim Provmces. 



flowers are, however, very well described ; and to complete 

 the description, I may add, the male flowers are peduncu- 

 lated, but the peduncles are shut, and they might be cha- 

 racterised as subsessile. The anthers, like those of the 

 female flowers, are sessile, depressed, or flattened above, 

 and dehise circularly. The ripe fruit is globose, and not 

 fm'rowed. As I send along with this paper specimens of 

 both the male and female flowers, any of your botanists will 

 be able to correct me at a glance, if I be in error. 



Neither Wallich, "Wight, nor Grifiiths appear to have 

 been at all aware that this species produces gamboge. 

 Dr Wight, in a recent number of his Neilgherry plants, 

 says — " Two species of the genus Garcinia are known to 

 produce gamboge, most of the others yield a yellow juice, 

 but not gamboge, as it will not mix with water." The spe- 

 cies which he has described as producing gamboge, and to 

 which I suppose he refers, are G. gutta or //. cambogioidcs 

 (Graham), and Gr. pictoria (Roxburgh). That others may 

 be enabled to judge of the character of the gamboge pro- 

 duced by this ti'ee, I have the pleasure to send specimens of 

 its exudation. In its appearance to the eye, and in its pro- 

 perties as a pigment, I have failed to discover the slightest 

 diff'erence between it and the gamboge of commerce. It 

 serves equally well to colour drawings — the Burmese priests 

 often use it to colour their garments, and the Karens to dye 

 their thread. It is also used by the native doctors in medi- 

 cine, but I think not extensively. Dr Lindley, in his new 

 work the " Vegetable Kingdom^'' says, — " The best gamboge 

 comes in the form of pipes from Siam, and this is conjec- 

 tured to be the pi'oduce of Garcinia Cochinchinensis." As 

 G. elliptica is spread all over the province of Mergui, is it 

 not probable that it extends into Siam, and that the Siamese 

 gamboge is the pi oduce, in part at least, of this tree ? 



There are several other species of Garcinia indigenous to 

 the province, but I know of no others producing anything 

 resembling gamboge, except Gambogia ; the exudation of 

 which, though it will not dissolve in water, dissolves in 

 spirits of turpentine, and forms a very beautiful yellow var- 

 nish for tin and other metallic surfaces. — {Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, New SerieS; No. vii., p. CGI.) 



