142 GOEDONIA. 



G. singaporiana 43 meters or 120 feet. 



G. excelsa 25 meters or 80 feet. 



G. Lasianthus 2-1 meters or 75 feet. 



G. obtnsa 20 meters or 60 feet, or perhaps more. 



G. multinervis ~) 



G. Lobbii [- 15 meters or 50 feet. 



G. speciosa J 



G. penangensis ~\ 



G. Maingayi }■ 12 meters or 40 feet. 



G. sinensis J 



G. luzonica (G. fragrans) ~] 



G. Balansae \ 8 meters or to 25 feet. 



G. pub esc ens J 



G. brevifolia 4 meters or 14 feet. 



Biclley in the Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, 

 iv, 1909, p. 6, speaks of very large Gordonias occurring on the upper 

 ridges of the Telom district of Pahang. The species was not deter- 

 mined. 



But unfortunately so many of these species are known from 

 observation in but one or two localities, and again we know that 

 flowering is no criterion of age, as in European gardens G. Lasian- 

 thus will flower at 8 — 10 feet, G. pubescens at 4 — 6 feet, and G. 

 axillaris at 3 feet (see Nicholson's Gardener's Dictionary article 

 Gordonia) : and we know also that the first named may be reduced 

 by conditions in its own home to a bush (see Sargent, Manual of 

 the trees of N. America, 1905, p. 678). G. singaporiana also 

 flowers as a bush. Almost all from the economic point of view 

 are inadequately known. 



There are no records of the rate of the growth of the eastern 

 Gordonias. Tree Xo. 1505 V. in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, — 

 Gordonia singaporiana, — is now 145 cm. in circumference at 130 cm. 

 from the ground; and this dimension is here recorded that some 

 observer in the future may measure it again. Its height may be, 

 about 70 feet, and it branches high; but tree 1508 H, which is in 

 the open, branches low clown. 



The Timber. 



The timber of Gordonia Lasianthus is stated by Sargent to be 

 light, soft, close-grained, not durable, light red occasional- 

 ly used in cabinet making. 



The wood of the eastern species finds a perhaps greater appre- 

 ciation. Beddome (Flora Sylvatica, 1874, under t. 83) wrote of 

 G. obtusa that the wood is " white with a straw tint, even grained 

 and pleasant to work, not unlike beech; very generally used for 

 planks, doors, rafters and beams, but warps if not well seasoned." 

 In the Indian Forester ii, 1876, p. 23, while stating that the 

 timbers in the sholas or woods of the Nalgiri plateau are of less value 



Jour. Straits Branch 



