122 NEW OR HAKE MALAYAN PLANTS. 



The berry globose scarlet. Seed irregularly quadrate 

 dark brown pustulate. 



This plant is the Tembusu of the Malays, and a very 

 well known and beautiful tree, whether in flower, covered 

 with its masses of creamy white flowers scenting the air, 

 or when bearing its bright orange red berries. It occurs 

 in open country only, and comes tip frequently in secon- 

 dary scrub. In the Botanic Gardens it comes up every- 

 where in the grass plots where the seeds has been carried 

 ; by bats or birds, or as I have seen by the fruit-eating ants. 



Specimens have been distributed from the Botanic 

 Gardens herbaria under Gardens (Ridley 581?) ; Pa- 

 hang: Pekan (1028); Penang: Telok Bahang (Curtis 

 314) ; Malacca: Merlimau (Deny 53). I have also met 

 it wild in the Bindings and Province TYellesley. 



F. speciosa, Bl. is a very different looking tree, which attains 

 a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 3-4 feet. The 

 bark is curious, being channelled in long straight grooves, 

 much less rough than in F. fro grans. The leaves are lan- 

 ceolate gradually narrowed to the petiole and long acu- 

 nate, polished light green and conspicuously undulate 

 even when dry, nerves five pairs. The cymes are more 

 lax than in F. fragrans. The flowers orange yellow, and 

 rather smaller. The calyx lobes more lanceolate, obtuse. 

 Nerves 5 pairs. The corolla tube { inch long but nearly 

 cylindric, and the lobes lanceolate obtuse much narrower 

 and shorter than the tube. The filaments are twice as 

 long as the corolla lobes. The style is long and yellowish 

 with a capitate stigma. The berry is oblong in outline 

 and always yellow. 



This tree is an inhabitant of the dense forests, though 

 there are a few in what is now open country in Singapore, 

 at Tanglin, they are merely the survivors of an old long 

 destro}"ed forest. The tree is known, as Tembusu paya, 

 Tembusu Bukit, and Tembusu Tembaga and is valued 

 for its timber winch is of much greater size than that of 

 F, fragrans. The timber is indeed so durable, that there 



Jour. Straits Branch 



