APPENDIX. A. 



BURMESE FOREST-TREES. 



In submitting my list of Burmese forest trees, I will give a few explanatory remarlts 

 thereon with the object of facilitating the proper understanding of the lists. These remarks 

 chiefly refer to the value and spelling of native names of plants and to the various abbrevia- 

 tions I have been compelled to introduce, in order to bring this present report within a 

 reasonable compass. 



Native names for plants and their value, etc. I would gladly have passed over the dis- 

 cussion of this subject, had it not been for the fact that, in spite of all warnings from 

 experienced men, there are still very respectable botanists and practical men, who look upon 

 native names for plants as something absolutely reliable. Some even believe that native 

 names are preferable to scientific ones, because the former are permanent and are not 

 altered from one day to another, as is the case in science. The latter point is rather a severe 

 rebuke to botanists, and no doubt the continuous alteration of names by creating genera which 

 originates chiefly in narrow minded vie^ unaided by field-experience, is a great drawback. 

 Unlike abstract sciences, Batauy, along with other branches of Natural History, is a progressive 

 study and there will naturally be alterations year after year. Not possessing a system that 

 will apply to all plants without exception, we have a continuous struggle with difficulties, of 

 which a practical man has hardly any idea. 



Our systems, elaborated as they are, serve only to assist us in the determination. of 

 plants and to attempt their arrangement in what appear to us to be natural groups; 

 Practice alone is, as in all other callings, the guide which teaches us the way towards a proper 

 understanding of the true affinities of plants. 



But those who believe that native plant-names are preferable on account of their 

 stability, must know that they often gain nothing by knowing a plant only by its native 

 name. Take for instance the tree which the Burmese call pyiuma or pima, how many 

 names have they to learn, should they leave the country ? In Bengal it is jarul, in Canara, 

 nali dasul, in Tamil, cadali pua, in Malay, bungur or wungu, etc., etc. ; and for all these we 

 liave the name of Lagerstroemia flos reginw. Such a number of native synonyms is surely 

 not preferable to the one scientific name, even though that name may subsequently be 

 changed on account of new discoveries. Any one wlio has leisure can make a fair trial 

 for himself by studying in Balfour's timber-trees of ludia, the Burmese names for trees ; he 

 will see into what confusion he will fall. 



However there are exceptions which require explanation. The Burmese flora consists of 

 at least 4,000, if not 5,000, or more, species of plants. How very different is this number 

 for instance, in the Punjab. Here the flora is comparatively scanty, and of this scarcely 

 more than, perhaps, 500 species, grow on the same square mile, and many tracts may be 

 found there on which only half that number is represented. A Punjabi has, therefore, only 

 a limited selection, and many a plaut that would be considered utterly valueless and not 

 deserving of a name in Burma (because of there being so many similar plants of superior 

 quality there) is looked upon by him with a very different eye. The Punjabi, in order to 

 obtain his vegetables and firewood, has to traverse large tracts of land, and the scantiness of 

 the flora obliges him to make the best of everything. Such a life keeps him in activity and 

 makes him acquainted with all that adds to his comfort ; while the indolent Burman or 

 Malay smokes or chews his betel and, in spite of his idleness, has the pleasure of making a 

 choice selection of what nature so prodigally offers to him. Hence the value of native 

 names in many countries and the discrepancy of opinions amongst Europeans as regards the 

 true value of native plant-names generally. 



It follows that native names for plants are more reliable in countries that possess a 

 poor and scanty flora, than in rich tropical countries, such as the Malay islands, Burma, etc. 



In spite of all these difficulties, 1 think that forest officers of the higher grades should 

 invariably be acquainted, not only with the scientific names, but also with the verna- 

 cular synonyms of at least the trees of their respective provinces. With the aid of the former, 

 they can obtain scientific or literary information, while the latter will be indispensable in 

 their communication with native subordinates. They should keep in mind, however, that 

 such native names have only a local value, and they cannot therefore expect to make scientific 

 determinations from native names only. 



