458 Botanical JS r otes. [No. 5. 



Lagerstrcemia regince is frequent, with Pongamia atropurpurea, 

 Vitex arborea, Ficus, and other trees. About the villages, the follow- 

 ing wild fruit trees are commonly found : Mangifera opp o sit i folia, 

 (Burm. Mayan) ; (of this tree there are two varieties, one with 

 sweet, and the other with acid fruit) ; Pierardia sapida (Burm. 

 Kanazo), and JEleagnus confer tus (Burm. Mengu) ; Sandoricum indi- 

 cum, (Burm. Thit-to) is a frequent tree, the fruit being also eaten : 

 so is Eriodendron pentandrum, cultivated for its silky cotton, used 

 to stuff beds and pillows. Mesua pedunculated also occurs, though 

 rarely. 



The site of the Burmese villages is almost invariably marked by 

 cocoa-nut and palmyra trees ; the latter planted wherever there is 

 a Pagoda, or monastery. The Phoongees also show their taste by 

 cultivating near their monasteries Amherstia nobilis, Mesua ferrea, 

 and Calophyllum inopliyllum. 



Some distance up the river, where the plains on either side are 

 too high to be subject to periodical inundation, they are covered 

 with vegetation continuously inland from the banks, and then the 

 prevailing tree is the " Eng" of the Burmese, Dipterocarpus grandi- 

 florus. Sometimes this is the only tree for many miles, when it 

 forms a thin open forest, intensely hot, as the trees prevent the free 

 circulation of the air ; while, from their scanty foliage, they afford no 

 protection from the rays of the sun. The leaves of the young tree, 

 however, are very large, and are collected by the natives for roofing 

 their houses ; also for the sides, when they cannot afford the Wipa 

 thatch, or procure the long grass (Imperata cylindrica) which is 

 the roofing material in other places. Often intermixed with the 

 JEng, grow Carey a arborea, Dillenia aurea, two or three species of 

 JErythrina, Gardenia, Randia, and a small Quercus. In these forests 

 there is little or no undergrowth, but here and there, in the swampy 

 places, patches of high grass. 



The fern of the river banks is Drynaria quercifolia, which clothes 

 the trunks of all the old trees from top to bottom. Orchidece appear 

 generally to be rare by our river sides, although one would be dis- 

 posed to think that the moisture would favour their growth. Loran- 

 thus penlandrus is a common parasite, and Viscum moniliforme a 

 rare one. It is in such places that are found those three beautiful 



