96 Dr. Francis Hamilton's Cotumeniary 



of the trees) should be supposed to indicate them to be plants 

 indigenous to ]\Ialabar. Fera was probably corrupted into Pela, 

 because these trees had a considerable resemblance to that 

 which Avill be next described. 



Plukenet (Aim. 181.) justly considers both the plants of Rheede 

 as mere varieties of one species ditiering in the colour and size 

 of the fruit, a distinction that was adopted by Dr. Roxburgh ; 

 but Rheede and Linnoeus seem rather to have founded the dis- 

 tinction on the shape of the fruit, and erroneously held them to 

 be distinct species. 1 may however refer to my Commentary 

 on the first vohmie of the Herboriiun A?)iboincnse {p. 140.) for 

 what further 1 have to say concerning these plants. 



Pelou, p. 35 t. 36. 



The natives of Malabar call this also Kafou Pela ; and in fact 

 it has a considerable resemblance to the rsidiu/u, as Rheede 

 and his commentator observe, although it is more nearly allied 

 to the 2nd division of Jussieu's Mijrti, especially to the Phigara 

 or Gustavia; for according to Gœrtner (De Sem. ii. 264.) it is 

 not yet ascertained that the Pivigara wants the albumen. This 

 organ the Pelou decidedly has ; and on this account it may be 

 doubted if it might not rather be classed with the 2nd division 

 of Jussieu's Guoiacaiue, although its petala are quite distinct. 



Although one of the most common and generally diffused 

 trees in India, no notice, so far as I know, was taken of it by 

 European botanists until 1800, when I went to Mysore ; and on 

 my return in 180 J showed it to Dr. Roxburgh, who in the fol- 

 lowing year procured plants from Colonel Ilardwicke (Hort. 

 Beng. 52.), and described it under the name of Careya arborcu, 

 calling it after the missionary of that name, most justly entitled 

 to the honour by his diligence and knowledge of botany, al- 

 though I had previously called it Cumbia, and under this name 



gave 



