210 (! UTT A- PRODUCT N'G TREES. 



cal identification has been hitherto so completely enshrouded will, 

 I venture to hope, be satisfactorily solved. 



Getah Tab an Merah. . (Dichopsis Gutta, or Isonandrd Gutta.) 



This tree, from which, the best kind of G-utta Percha is obtained, 

 grows, or rather used to grow, throughout the jungles of the plains 

 of Perak and a short way up the sides of the hills. 



It seems to like a considerable amount of moisture, and will even 

 grow with its roots in a running stream. It is a tree of large size, 

 attaining a diameter of 4 to 5 feet, and a height of between 100 

 and 200 feet. 



It has large thin buttresses around its base, which often present, 

 on their upper portions, a convex profile, and, on a large tree, 

 attain a height of 6 to 8 feet, and a span at the base of 4 to 5 

 feet from the trunk. As far as I have yet seen, they never form 

 an arch, but have their lower parts buried in the earth, from the 

 trunk to their extremities. 



"When growing in the forest, the tree has a clean, straight ap- 

 pearance, the former being due apparently to the bark peeling off 

 in irregular pieces. The bark is of a rich brown-red colour, and 

 from one-third to half an inch in thickness. 



Inside the epidermis it is of an Indian-red tint ; and when cut, 

 the milk white sap oozes out, at first in small beads, which, enlarg- 

 ing, soon join and covers the injured part with a coating of a 

 cream-like consistency. The leaves are lanceolate on a young tree, 

 and roundish oval with abruptly acuminative points on a tree of 

 mature growth. The margin is entire, and they are covered on 

 their undersurface, with minute silky warm-brown hairs. The 

 leaf stalks and young wood are also covered in a similar manner, 

 which gives the whole tree, when looked at from below, a brownish 

 tint, by which the tree may generally be recognised. The upper 

 surface of the leaf is dark green, and the veins are not prominent. 



The calyx consists of six sepals, three of which are superior to 

 the others, and alternate with them. 



They are coated, like the backs of the leaves, with silky-brown 

 hairs. The corolla is white, and is divided into six petals. The 

 style, which is simple, is sometimes persistent, and may be seen on 



