BOTANY. 3?1 



has a peculiar disagreeable smell, which may be re- 

 moved by soaking the cut fruit in salt and water. I am 

 not aware that it is ever eaten by the Society Islanders, 

 although it is often used at dessert by European resi- 

 dents in the East Indies. 



Tahiti ; native name mara. Timor. 



Casuarma equisetifolia. Iron- wood Tree. All the 

 examples of this tree which came under my notice in 

 the islands of the Pacific, were monoecious, whilst those 

 I obtained in the Indian Archipelago were as invariably 

 dioecious. The fact, that this plant is dioecious in the 

 islands of the China Sea, has been noticed by Finlay- 

 son,* who was consequently led to believe that other 

 botanists, who had described the species as monoecious, 

 (probably from Polynesian specimens,) had given it 

 an incorrect class. 



The foliage of the tree bears a close resemblance to 

 that of the fir family : it is exceedingly elegant ; and 

 its sombre-green colour and drooping attitude give it a 

 truly funereal character. The primitive Polynesian na- 

 tions have done ample justice to its solemn appearance, 

 by making it a conspicuous feature in their sacred 

 groves. The male fructification is a slender cylindrical 

 spadix, covered with minute flowers ; the female is a 

 catkin. The fruit is a short wooden strobile, or cone, 

 containing, between its scales, small black seeds, with 

 membranous margins. 



The species chiefly affects the lowlands, near the sea- 

 shore, and the brow of the more arid and weathered 

 hills. The timber it affords is one of the numerous 

 " iron-woods " of Europeans ; and is, as this term de- 



* " Mission to China." 



2 B 2 



