78 GARU AND CHANDAN. 



He gives a picture of the tree which bears no resemblance to 

 anything in particular. Its greatest use has always been for 

 fumigating and it is highly valued by Orientals for ceremonial 

 purposes. Imitation gharu is often made and sold ; pieces of 

 decayed brown wood being scented with incense till they retain 

 the smell long enough for selling' purposes. In about a month 

 the scent disappears. Rumph mentions this fraud. He says the 

 wood is put into a pot with some shavings of Calambac and 

 kept it closed for a month so that the smoke may not escape, 

 and it will last scented for two or three months. The present 

 value of good Garu is four hundred dollars a picul. 



Chandan. 



This tree I heard of as distinct from Garu some years ago 

 but could not get any information about it. The name is abso- 

 lutely the same as the Indian vernacular for sandalwood, San- 

 talum album, but it was clear that this plant did not grow here. 

 While on a botanic expedition in Batu Pahat this year I met 

 with the plant on Bukit Pengaram in dense forest at an altitude 

 of nearly 1000 feet. An old Malay who was with me com- 

 menced chopping at a small tree and on my inquiry why he did 

 so he said it was a Chandan tree. There were no fruit or flowers 

 on it but I obtained leaf specimens and portions of the inner 

 wood which on being burnt gave out an aromatic odor some- 

 what like that of Garu, but distinct. The Malay said that the 

 tree was not old enough to produce good Chandan, and that 

 there was little to be met with in that part of Johor. From the 

 foliage I identified it as an Aquilaria of which I had in the her- 

 barium flowering specimens without locality, Kayu Chandan, 

 by Murton, and fruiting ones collected by a plant collector at 

 Kranji in Singapore. It is referred to in my list of Singapore 

 plants as A grandifiora Benth., but on comparing the specimens 

 with the description of that plant I conclude it is quite distinct 

 and propose to call it Aquilaria hirta n. sp. 



Description. A slender tree about 30 feet tall, and four 

 inches through, with whitish rather smooth bark, |- inch thick. 

 The shoots and young twigs covered with silky hairs. Leaves 

 alternate o to 6 inches long 1^ to 2 J inches wide, elliptic or 

 elliptic ovate acute, coriaceous with a thickened edge glabrou s 



