TREES THAT COUNT MAMHOT GLAZIOVII 49 



and at Singapore particularly it was a complete 

 failure. Nevertheless, many of the planters to whom 

 the tree had been originally introduced placed it 

 afterwards on the heights as a shading to their main 

 crops, without the slightest regard to its utility as 

 a rubber-producer. They were agreeably astonished 

 to find that it soon beat the Hevea standing in the 

 lower situations both in growth and productiveness. 

 In these respects the plant was simply maintaining its 

 native reputation. 



Manihot Glaziovii is a euphorbiaceous plant. It 

 was described by Mueller in Martius' " Flora 

 Brasiliensis " and identified by the botanist Dr. 

 Glaziow (after whom the species is named), who had 

 it under cultivation at Rio de Janeiro, whence he sent 

 specimens to Kew for study and confirmation as to 

 its order and family in the botanical world. Under 

 cultivation the tree attains a height of about 30 feet ; 

 the bark is purple-grey, and when fully grown the 

 stem resembles that of the birch, especially in its 

 habit of a periodical peeling of the outer bark. 



In its native habitat Manihot Glaziovii delights in 

 the dry, arid climate that is a feature of the Sertao 

 or wilderness of the Ceara region. Here Cross found 

 it flourishing in situations where almost every other 

 form of vegetation had ceased to exist. He tells us 

 that he found at Pacatuba, about forty miles from 

 Ceara (the actual place where some of his specimens 

 were obtained), " the forest tolerably high, but the 

 sparse, small foliage did not afford much shade from 

 the fierce rays of the sun. The soil was in places a 

 sort of soft sandstone or gravel, which was bound up 



D 



