343 



short, the deep red anthers alftiost sessile. The ovary is large for 

 the size of the flower, bright green, of 4 or 5 lobes, with 4 or 5 

 recurved linear green styles. Of the 4 or 5 lobes of the ovary one, 

 two or three develop into black drupes, elliptic in outline and about 

 J inch long. They have a little greenish almost tasteless flesh 

 round the single seed which has a thin brittle coat covering the 

 exceedingly bitter embryo. The taste is much the same as that of 

 quinine or of the bark of the allied plant Eurycoma long/fo/ia, the 

 Bidara Pahit of the Malay Peninsula. 



The plant occurs in Pahang, Malacca, Sungei Ujong and Se- 

 langor, and probably in suitable places all over the Peninsula. It 

 was collected by WALLICH in Singapore when the island was first 

 occupied in 1822, but seems to have quite disappeared, probably 

 on account of clearing and building on the south coast of the island, 

 where WALLICH collected many of his plants, and which was then 

 probably a suitable locality for it. In 1891 I brought seed from 

 Pahang and planted it in the Botanic Gardens. From these plants 

 the species has spread all over the Tanglin district in waste open 

 ground, the birds having carried and distributed the seeds around 

 the gardens, so that it has become quite abundant again. 



It has also been collected in Tenasserim, Siam and all the larger 

 Malay islands as far as Philippines, in South China and Australia. 

 1 he plant is usually to be found in flat open country, never in 

 forest, in rather sandy and dry spots, and flowers and fruits all the 

 year round. It is propagated by seed and it appears that the seed 

 should be dried before planting and sprinkled on the ground, not 

 buried. Attempts to propagate it by cuttings have not been very 

 successful, as even after the cuttings have sprouted the plants are 

 apt to damp off. In long grass it is apt to grow weak and slender 

 and should then be pruned back so as to cause it to branch and 

 become bushy. 



The plant is known to the Malays as Cherek Jantan, Sisik Ma- 

 nik, Malau or Embalau Padang, and Malau Bt-tina, Sarai Pusur, 

 Sejarat, Ampadu Bruang. 



Sumatran, — Malur, Tambar bui, Tambar Sipogo ; Javanese — 

 Kualut, Wonglot, Katilang, Ketileng; Sundanese — Kandong Pen- 

 chang; Jacatra — Kemon jenjeny; Moluccas — Lusa or Nusa Rajah, 

 Kayu Nagas ; Celebes — Tambara Maritja; Banka — Beliliek ; 

 China — Kosam. 



Uses. 



RUMPHIVS gives a good figure and an account of the plant in 

 the Herbarium Amboinense Vol. VII p. 29, Plate XV, and recom- 

 mends the use of the root as an antidote to poison or bad food. 

 HORSFIELD Verh. Bat. Gen. Dl. VII. recommends an infusion for 

 debility of the stomach and diarhcea, and as a tonic. An account 

 and figure of the plant is given by GRESKOFF (Nuttige Indische 

 Planten ii. p. 71.) He states that the seeds are well known in 

 Europe under the name of Macassar kernels and quotes from 

 . N. P. VAN DER STOK in Gen. Tijsch. v. Ned. lnd. XVI, 370, as to 

 its use in dysentery, and from Dr. C. L. VAN DER BURG (de Gen- 



