AEAB TREE. 393 



called Sandarach, which was once a reputed medicine, is col- 

 lected by the Moors and exported from Mogador to Europe, 

 where it is used as a varnish. 



(ifum Arabic. 



Acacia gwmmifera. — WUld. Sp. PL iv. 1056 ; DC. Prod. ii. 



455 ; Hayne, Arzneigew. x. t. 8 ; Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. 



XXX. 509 ; Ball, in Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xvi. 442. 

 Mimosa gummifera. — Brouss. in Poir. Diet. Suppl. i. 164. 

 Acacia coronillcefolia. — Desf. Cat. Hort. Par. ed. ii. 207. 

 Mimosa coronillcefolia. — Pers. Encheirid. n. 44. 

 Sassa gummifera. — Gmel Syst. ex DO. 1. c. 



Of this plant very little indeed is known, and we were un- 

 fortunately unable to find either flower or fruit of the only 

 Acacia which we met with on our visit to Marocco, and which 

 we were assured was the Gum Arabic plant (Alk Tlah) of that 

 country. It is interesting as representing the northern limit 

 of distribution of the immense genus Acacia in Africa. Our 

 specimens, such as they are, coincide perfectly with the de- 

 scription of Acacia gummifera in Willdenow, and with the 

 excellent figure in Hayne, which was taken from specimens col- 

 lected by Broussonet near Mogador. "We found the plant 

 abundantly in the lower region of Southern and Western 

 Marocco, occurring as a thorny bush, along with Rhus penta- 

 phylla and other shrubs. That it was the plant producing 

 the Marocco Gum Arabic the natives consistently testified, 

 though this could not be inferred from the description in 

 Jackson's ' Account of the Empire of Marocco' p. 136, who 

 says of the gum that it 'is produced from a high thorny 

 tree called Attalet, having leaves similar to the Arar, or gum 

 Sandarac tree, and the Juniper.' Jackson goes on to say : — 



' The best kind of Barbary gum is procured from the trees of 

 Marocco, Eas-el-wed, in the province of Abda; the secondary 

 qualities are the produce of Shedma, Duquella, and other pro- 

 vinces ; the tree grows abundantly in the Atlas mountains, and 

 is found also in Bled-el-jerrMe. The gum, when new, emits a 

 faint smell, and, when stowed in the warehouse, it is heard to 

 crack spontaneously for several weeks; and this cracking is the 

 surest criterion of new gum, as it never does so when old ; 



