Gordonia eoncentricicatrix, Burkill, 

 (Kelat samak, Samak pulut, Kelat merah— Malay) 



By G. E. S. Cubitt. 

 ( With one plate ) 



This new species, of which a botanical description was publish- 

 ed in pages 152 and 153 of !N"o. 76 of the Society's Journal, is 

 illustrated in the frontispiece. It is a large evergreen tree attaining 

 a height of over 100 feet with a maximum girth so far recorded 

 of 8-| feet at 4^ feet from the ground. The stein is cyelindrical 

 and slightly thickened at the base, but not buttressed. The bark 

 has been variously described as light brown, reddish brown, and 

 fawn-coloured, and peels off in flakes a foot or more in length and 

 an inch to three inches wide, the peeling usually being from below 

 upwards. The flakes in falling leave a light terra-cotta coloured 

 smooth new bark, marked with lozenge-shaped concentric scars re- 

 sembling a contour map. The scars are not always as conspicuous 

 as those shown in the plate, but are always perfectly evident, and 

 can at any time be exposed by removing the loose bark.- The scars 

 are also clearly visible on the inside of the old bark, but tend to 

 disappear with age on the outside. The bark, when cut or wound- 

 ed, exudes a dark blood red or crimon sticky juice, which turns 

 black on drying. Below the bark the blaze is white. The crown is 

 fairly open. 



It is not unlikely that the tree flowers and fruits twice yearly, 

 the fruit taking about 6 months to ripen. In Selangor on the 21st 

 May, 1917, the tree was in full flower; on the 31st May, 1916, the 

 stamens had fallen, and the fruit was just beginning to form; in 

 June, 1916, ripe capsules were collected; in July, 1917, old fallen 

 fruit was found on the ground; in October, 1917, the fruit of the 

 flowering of the previous May had not vet ripened. In Pahang the 

 tree is said to flower in December and January; in August, 1917, 

 neither flower nor fruit was obtainable. 



Gordonia concentricicatrix is somewhat uncommon but is wide- 

 ly distributed, being recorded from Malacca and the Dindings, as 

 well as from Selangor and Pahang. So far as is known at present 

 it grows only at low elevations, probably not above 1000'. In the 

 Rantau Panjang Eeserve in Selangor it occurs over a small area 

 in large numbers, 25 trees from 15" to 8^' (average 44'') in girth 

 at breast height having been counted on two acres. This is how- 

 ever exceptional and, elsewhere it occurs sporadicallv. Its chief 

 associates in the Eantau Panjang Eeserve, where the soil is a loam, 



Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc, No. 78. 



