GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 533 
with the natives; the Corypha umbraculifera, the trunk of which, 
sometimes reaching the height of sixty or seventy feet, is crowned 
with an ample tuft of leaves spread out in umbrella form, covering 
a space of eighteen feet ; the Dragon tree ; the Screw-pines (Panda- 
nus) ; the Bamboo, and many others, equally noted for their size 
and properties, are natives of this region. 
If we throw a glance, moreover, at the plants under cultiva- 
tion, we find them equally important :—Rice; the Earth Nut; 
Sorghum ; Indian Corn; the Cocoa-nut Palm, the elegant and 
useful tree which gives to man almost all the necessaries of life, 
supplying him at once with shelter, food, light, heat, and clothing ; 
the Clove-tree (Caryophyllus aromaticus), the flower of which is 
the well-known clove; the Pepper shrub (Piper nigrum), the fruit 
of which, gathered before maturity, constitutes the pepper which 
has been constantly brought to Europe since the expedition of 
Alexander the Great ; and the Betel Pepper (P. Betela), with bitter 
and aromatic leaves, in which the Southern Asiatics enclose a few 
slices of the Areca nut, which they chew to sweeten the breath and 
stay their hunger; the Tamarind (Zamarindus Indica), a magni- 
ficent tree, the fruit of which encloses a pulp of vinous odour and 
tartish flavour; the Mango (Mangifera Indica), whose much- 
vaunted fruit has a sweet and richly perfumed flavour, accom- 
panied with a grateful acidity ; the Mangostan (Garcinia Mango- 
stana), whose berry encloses, under a bitter and astringent epicarp, 
a delicious pulp, having a happy mixture of the tart and sweet; 
the Banana-trees (Musacee), of many species, whose yellow clus- 
tered fruit, each six or eight inches long, furnish a very nourishing 
food, which has the taste of buttered paste, slightly sugared, while 
its leaves form a delicate vegetable, and its fermented juice an 
agreeable wine; the Schambu (Jambosa vulgaris), whose small 
apples communicate to the mouth a rose-like odour; the Guava 
(Psidium pomiferum), with yellow fruit of the size of a Pear; 
many Oranges; Water-Melons; Sugar-cane, and the Coffee 
shrub, are all found among the number. 
We have attempted in Plate XX. to give an ideal representa- 
tion of the principal species of vegetables belonging to the 
botanical region which we have just described. Some rustic 
species are figured in the foreground. On the left of the picture _ 
