2 



DRAGON'S BLOOD TREE OF THE WEST INDIES. 



There are several plants known in different parts of the world as Dragon's Blood, but the one to 

 ^hich attention is called in this note is a native of Jamaica, a tree about 30 feet high {Pterocarpus 

 l)raco, Linn.) 



The common name is derived from the fact that when incisions are made in the bark drops of red 

 sap ooze out which flow slowly down the bark and gradually harden. 



Jacquin in his " Selectarum stirpium americanarum Historia," published in A. D. 1763, states 

 that formerly this red resin was imported from Cartagena to Spain as " Sangre de Dragon." He also 

 says that the bark, wood, and leaves are full of an astringent sap, and that the inhabitants use the 

 bark of the trunk and root for cleaning the teeth. He mentions the Island of Tierra Bomba as its 

 native place, but Grisebach states that it grows in Jamaica, Guadaloupe, Trinidad and in Central and 

 northern South America. 



Other species of the genus Pterocarpm yield an astringent coloured juice which is of economic 

 value. For instance the Kino which is recognised at the present day in the European and Indian 

 Pharmacopoeias is a product of Pterocarpus Marmpium, Roxb., which is also a valuable timber tree. 

 Kino was originally brought from Africa under the native African name Kano, the sap of Pterocarpus 

 erinaceus, Poir. Fluckiger and Hanbury in their " Pharmacographia" say " Duncan in the Edinburgh 

 Dispensatory of 1803, while asserting that * Kino is brought to us from Africa ' admits that some, 

 not distinguishable from it, is imported from Jamaica. In a later edition of the same work (1811), he 

 says that the African drug is no longer to be met with, and alludes to its place being supplied by 

 other kinds, as that of Jamaica, that imported by the East India Company, and that of N. S. W'ales de- 

 rived from Eucalyptus resini/era, Sm." This reference to Jamaica points to the Pterocarpus Draco. 



It is possible that the wood may be of value in the arts like the Barwood of Africa, {Pterocarpus 

 erinaceus, Poir.) or the Red Sanders Wood of India {Pterocarpus santalinus, Linn, f.). 



It is important therefore to find out to what extent this tree is still growing in the island, and to 

 submit specimens of the resin and wood to foreign markets. Any information with specimens of wood 

 resin, leaves, flowers, and pods will be thankfully received by the Director of Public Gardens and 

 Plantations, Gordon Town P. 0. 



The tree has compound leaves, somewhat like the common cedar ; yellow pea-like flowers, half an 

 nch long; and a flat rounded pod, containing one seed. 



EXPERIMENTS IN THE CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES.— X. 



Potatoes 



Names of, Potatoes grown at 

 Hope Garden. 



Windsor Castle 



Sutton's Nonsuch 

 " Supreme 

 " Magnum Bonum 

 " Satisfaction 

 " Perfection 

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 " Seedling 

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