PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FRUITS. 201 



the multitude of varieties cultivated in these countries, 

 the number of ancient common names, in particular a 

 Sanskrit namc,^ its abundance in the gardens of Bengal, 

 of the Dekkan Peninsula, and of Ceylon, even in 

 Rheede's time. Its cultivation was less ditiused in the 

 direction of China, for Loureiro only mentions its 

 existence in Cochin-China. According to Rumphius,^ 

 it had been introduced into certain islands of the 

 Asiatic Archipelago within the memory of living men. 

 Forster does not mention it in his work on the fruits of 

 the Pacific Islands at the time of Cook's expedition. 

 Tlie name common in the Philippine Isles, manga,^ 

 shows a foreign origin, for it is the Malay and Spanish 

 name. The common name in Ceylon is aiiibe, akin to 

 the Sanskrit avora, whence the Persian and Arab amfih,^ 

 the modern Indian names, and perhaps the Malay, 

 onangka, raanga, rnanj^elaan, indicated by Rumphius. 

 There are, however, other names used in the Sunda 

 Islands, in the Moluccas, and in Cochin-China. TIkj 

 variety of these names argues an ancient introduction 

 int> the East Indian Aichipelago, in spite of the opinion 

 of Rumphius 



The Mangifera which this author had seen wild i)i 

 Java, and Mangifera sylvatica which Roxburgh had 

 discovered at Silhet, are other species ; but the true 

 mango is indicated by modern authors as wild in the 

 forests of Ceylon, the regions at the base of the Himalayas, 

 especially towards the east, in Arracan, Pegu, and the 

 Andaman Isles.^ Miquel does not mention it as wild 

 in any of the islands of the Malay Archipelago. In 

 spite of its growing in Ceylon, and the indications, less 

 positive certainly, of Sir Joseph Hooker in the Flora of 

 Biitish India, the species is proljably rare or only 

 naturalized in the Indian Peninsula. The size of the 

 stone is too great to allow of its bting transported by 



* Roxburgh, Flora Tndica, edit. 2, vol. ii. p. 435 ; Piddingtpn, Index. 



* Rumphius, Herb. Avihoin., i. p. 95. 



^ B\anco, Fl. Filip., p. 181. * Eumphins; Forskal, p. cvii. 



' Thwaites, Env.m. Plant. CeyL, p. 75 ; Brandis, Forest Flora, p. 126 

 Hooker, Fl.Brit. Ind., ii. p. 13 ; Kurz, Forest Flora Brit. Burmah, i. p 304. 



/ 



