BOTANY. 355 



the bright-yellow hue of their stamens ; their odour is 

 sweet and powerful. The fruit is a smooth globular 

 drupe,* containing a hard wooden nut, which encloses 

 an oily kernel. 



The timber of the tamanu may compete with the elm 

 of Europe in useful qualities : it is close-grained, red, 

 prettily marked, and, when well selected and polished, 

 is little inferior to mahogany in beauty, although it 

 does not possess the extreme hardness of that wood. 

 The Society Islanders employ it in shipbuilding, and 

 for the erection of their more substantial dwellings or 

 public edifices. A peculiar resinous matter exudes 

 from the trunk of this tree, both spontaneously and by 

 incision. It is of a gray colour, and exceedingly viscid, 

 but possesses no sensible quality beyond a mild agree- 

 able odour. It is chiefly employed as an application 

 to the hair by Tahitian females. The Society Islanders 

 generally, have appreciated the sombre character of this 

 tree, and have made it the companion of the Casuarina 

 in forming their sacred groves. The fruit is employed 

 by the same people as a yellow dye for cloth. The Ma- 

 lays, at Timor, use the oily kernel of the nut for pur- 

 poses of illumination. 



Society Isles. Marquesas. Sandwich Isles (rare). 

 Timor. 



'Argemone Mexicans California. St. Helena. 



, Var. Resembles the last named 



species, with the exception that the flower is not yellow, 



* This seed-vessel floats buoyantly on the ocean, which, together with 

 its dense imperishable structure, accounts for the extensive geographical 

 distribution of the tree, its very literal habitat, and its early appearance 

 amongst the vegetation of low coral formations. 



,2 A 2 



