Pleiofiijnium.] XLI. ANACARDIACE.E. 825 



spreading, recurved, about ^ line long. Fruit turbinate, from 1 to l|in. or more 

 in diameter, often of a defp purple when ripe, and then with a juicy sarcocarp ; 

 putamen hard, rugose, outside, 12-celled, containing 1 seed in each cell.— From 

 Mueller's and Engler's description (in part). Spondias acida, Soland; 8. Solandri, 

 Benth. ; Oiamid cerasifera F. v. M. ; S. pleiogyna, F. v. M. 



Hab.: On the borders of tropical creeks and rivers. 



The tree of which the above is a botanic description is that known in Queensland as the 

 Burdekin Plum, or Sweet Plum, and by the Rookhampton natives as " Rancooran," and at Port 

 Curtis as " Noongi." In the 1st vol. of the Flora Australiensis, Mr. Bentham placed it in 

 Meliacete as (?) Owenia cerasifera, as published previously by Baron v. Mueller in Hooker's Keio 

 Journal, with a note that "until the flowers have been seen, this species must remain, in some 

 measure, doubtful," the fruit specimens alone being then known. At page 492 of this same 

 volume, Mr. Bentham describes the same tree as Spondias Solandri, changing it from S. acida, 

 as named by Solander in the Banksian Herbarium. These specimens were not in fruit, but he 

 ■ tells us that in the Banksian collection was a packet of drupes, named as belonging to this 

 species, and described as such by R. Brown, and from this description there is little doubt but 

 what they were the fruit of the above Spondias, and that it and Owenia cerasifera are identical. 

 Baron v. Mueller, it would seem, has come to that conclusion, for we find S. pleiogyna, under 

 which he described it in his Fragm. iv. and v., now merged into S. Solandri, in the last edition 

 of his Census of Australian Plants. It seems to me better that the name given in De CandoUe's 

 work, I.e., should be used for our Burdekin Plum. A change of name is always to be avoided 

 where possible, but in the present instance it seems necessary. By an unfortunate oversight C. 

 de CandoUe, Monogr. Phaner., i. 596, gives a description from the Flora Austr., i. 386, omitting 

 the note of interrogation, of Owenia cerasifera, F. v. M., which name had been changed to 

 Spondias pleiogyna twelve or fourteen years before. 



Wood hard, dark-brown, with red markings (resembling American Walnut), the grain pretty 

 close ; splits straight. An excellent wood for the joiner or cabinetmaker ; also for turnery. — 

 Bailey's Cat. Ql. Woods No. 112 (under the name of Spondias pleiogyna, F. v. M.) 



