30 



This plant is common in the Peninsula, occurring in Bukit 

 Timah, in Singapore, Malacca, Johor, Negri Sembilan. It is 

 met with in dense forest, but though very abundant it is quite 

 rare to find fruits at least in the south, but it seems to be more 

 abundant in Negri Sembilan whence Mr. Moorhouse sent me 

 fruiting specimens, and it appears to supply the greater part of 

 the Dragon's blood of the Malay Peninsula, excellent samples of 

 which are often exhibited at our agricultural shows. 



The young rattans are collected in many places, and in 

 Johor are known as Rotan Tahi Ayam. 



D. Draconcelltts. Becc. 



This is the species which Beccari says is the Rotan Jerenang 

 of the Dyaks. His description of it (Nelle Foreste di Borneo, 

 p. 608) is too meagre to identify it. He says it has a short peduncle 

 to the spadix which is nodding, the leaf sheaths covered with 

 almost bristle like black thorns in rows, soon falling off, lobes of 

 the leaf linear equidistant numerous very narrow 7-9 mill, broad 

 on the back, the three nerves are bristly and the fruit has an 

 abundant resin. He obtained it on Matang. On the same 

 mountain at the top I got a plant which the Dyaks said was the 

 true Jerenang, which has a compact erect panicle, rather thick, 

 8 inches long with a stout peduncle furnished with black-tipped 

 spines. The flower bracts are orbicular convolute pale colored 

 the flowers female rather large, calyx lobes v orbicular ribbed, 

 petals lanceolate ribbed. Fruit globose yellow, scales rhomboid, 

 a little longer than broad and grooved. It shows little resin, but 

 the fruit is unripe. The leaves are light colored with linear 

 leaflets shortly acuminate narrow and with very few bristles 

 except at the tip. The rachis is smooth rather slender with short 

 recurved black-tipped thorns at each pair of leaflets, the leaflets 

 being almost opposite. This plant may be Beccari's D. 

 Dracconcellus, but it does not altogether agree. Another specimen 

 from Matang, (July) has broader leaflets, bristly on the nerves at 

 the back, with oblong fruits nearly an inch long, the scales 

 broader than long and deeply grooved. These fruit are ripe and 

 have much resin. It is also known at Jerenang, and, I think, is 

 the same plant as the one obtained there later (11,828). 



D. Draco Bl. The Rotan Jernang of Sumatra much 

 resembles D. pvopinquus of the Malay Peninsula. It differs 

 apparently chiefly in the spines on the sheath being more needle- 

 like and arranged in small tufts, not dagger-shaped and arranged 

 in rows as in D. propinquas. It grows to a height of 60 feet, and 

 is as thick at the base as the forearm and densely spiny. The 

 leaves resemble than of D. pvopinqnus but are less bristly. The 

 fruit resembles that of D. micracanthus, but is rather more conical. 

 This was described originally by Rumphins (Herb. Aniboinense 

 v. 114) as the source of Dragon's blood. He gives a long 

 account of it, from specimens sent to him from Djambi and 



