14 BULLETIN" 1057, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



many of the seeds are lost in crevices between the innumerable rocks 

 and bowlders. Porcupines also devour the seeds, and the result is 

 that in all probability about 50 per cent of the crop is lost. 



The trees are not regular fruiters. Those found in pure sand at an 

 elevation of about 2,000 feet, the tallest and handsomest forming 

 large forest tracts, were without fruit. In all, only two single small 

 fruits were observed. The natives said that the year previous they 

 had a very large crop. They will probably not get another crop 

 from that particular locality before 1923. It was found that trees 

 exposed to sunlight, standing by themselves in exposed locations, were 

 loaded with immature fruits while, as has been said, those found in 

 pure stands were without a vestige of fruit. After a search of several 

 days one single tall tree was encountered under which ripe seeds were 

 found with some of the fruit flesh still adhering ; on the party's ap- 

 proach a troop of monkeys made its escape. This tree furnished about 

 170 mature fruits, each fruit containing from 20 to 30 large angular 

 seeds (PI. Ill) . The fruits are quite different from those of Tarakto- 

 genos kurzii; they are the size of an orange, pointed at the apex, dark 

 brown, granular, and rough, while those of T. kurzii are perfectly 

 globose, velvety tomentose, and fawn colored. The seeds are much 

 alike. Hydnocarpus castanea seeds take twice as long to germinate 

 as do those of Taraktogenos kurzii, probably because of their double 

 testa. 



Many of the trees were found to have pieces of bark cut off their 

 trunk, and, on inquiry, the writer was told that the bark is boiled 

 and the decoction drunk as tea for internal disorders, as well as for 

 skin diseases. The larger trees have strings tied around their trunks, 

 so that they may easily be identified by children and young men sent 

 into the forests to cut the bark. The illustration here presented (PI. 

 IV) shows the trunk of a large Hydnocarpus castanea tree with a 

 string made out of bamboo tied around the trunk. It also shows how 

 much of the trunk had been decorticated. Decortication is soon fol- 

 lowed by white ant, or termite, attacks, which make short work of 

 these trees. 



HYDNOCARPUS CURTISII. 7 



This species was collected by the writer on the island of Penang, 

 in the jungle along the only waterfall on the island. It is a small 

 tree 15 feet high, or rarely taller. The fruits, which are rather small, 

 are about an inch in diameter and globose. No chemical examina- 

 tion has yet been made of the oil from seeds of this species. The 

 writer found only male flowers and no fruits (March, 1921). 



7 Hydnocarpus curtisii King (IS; p. 119). Specimens collected by the writer, are 

 deposited in the United State National Herbarium: Rock No. 1188, U. S. N. H. Nos. 

 1,090,025 and 1,090,026. 



