LARCH OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 239 



tree of the Myrtle family (Myrtacere), plentiful on the banks of 

 the ISTepean Eiver, New South Wales. The natives make their 

 bows of it. 



Lancewood, Guiana {Bugudia Guitarensis), a tree of the 

 Custard Apple family (Anonace^), seldom attaining more than 

 20 feet in height. Its wood is tough and elastic, and is imported 

 into this country from Guiana and Cuba ; also that of G^iatteria 

 virgata, Rollinia multiflora, and R, longifolia, trees of the same 

 family, natives of Brazil and Guiana, are used for the same 

 purpose as Lancewood, chiefly for shafts of carriages, whip 

 handles, tops of fishing rods, for cabinet-work, and ornamental 

 articles. 



Lancewood, Jamaica [Uvaria lanceolata), a small tree of 

 the Custard Apple family (Anonacese), native of Jamaica. 



Lanseh, the Malayan name for the fruit of Lansium domesti- 

 cum, a tree of the Bead Tree family (Meliace?e), native of, and 

 cultivated throughout, the Malayan Islands. The fruit is the size 

 of a pigeon's egg, of a yellow colour, and is produced in bunches ; 

 wlien ripe it consists of a transparent pleasant subacid pulp, 

 enclosed in a very bitter skin, which has to be removed before 

 the fruit is eaten. There appear to be several varieties cultivated, 

 some more bitter than others. The natives consider it next to 

 the Mangosteen and Durian in flavour, and Europeans rank it 

 second of the Malayan fruits. 



Larch (Larix europcca), a tree of the Fir family (Conifera3). 

 The larch forms large forests in Switzerland and other parts of 

 Europe, and is extensively planted in this country for its 

 timber. It forms an ornamental tree, sometimes attaining a 

 great height, and is the only European species of the family 

 that sheds its leaves. In Scotland (Perthshire) trees are to be 

 found measuring 21 feet in circumference. It yields Venice 

 turpentine, which is used in medicine. Of late years the Larch 

 in this country has been subject to a disease which has much 

 deteriorated its value as a forest tree. Larix Kcempferi, a native 

 of China, is in habit similar to the European Larix, but with a 

 more glaucous hue in the leaves, and is called the Golden Larch. 



