162 



table dyes. The cakes left after the oil has been expressed, is used" 

 as food for cattle and also as manure. It thrives along roads.. 



(JEuphorbiacecB.) 



3. Amheestia ^obilis, Wall. — To those who are fortunate enough to - 

 arrange their visit in the early part of the year, almost the first ob- 

 ject on entering the gate, the Amherst ia nobilis, will be a joyous 

 surprise. 



Dr. AVallich, Director of the Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, gives 

 an account of his discovery of this Prince of Flowering-Trees. In 

 March, 1827, he accompanied the British Envoy to Ava, and in his 

 official report of a journey on the River Saluen, in order to exa- 

 mine the site and capabilities of the Teak forests in that direction, 

 thus writes : " In about an hour I came to a decayed Kioum (a sort 

 of monastery), distant about 27 miles from the town of Martaban. 

 There were two of these trees here ; the largest, about 40 feet high, 

 with a girth at 3 feet above the base, of 6 feet, stood close to the 

 cave ; the other was smaller. They were profusely ornamented 

 with pendulous racemes of large vermilion- coloured blossoms, form- 

 ing superb objects, unequalled in the flora of the East Indies, and, 

 I presume, not surpassed in magnificence and elegance in any part 

 of the world. The ground was strewed, even at a distance, with 

 its blossoms, which are carried daily as offerings to the images of 

 Buddha in the adjoining caves. Round the spot were, also, nume- 

 rous individuals of Saraca indica in full bloom, inferior in beauty 

 only to those trees." 



This tree, which "when in full blossom is the most strikingly 

 superb object that can possibly be imagined", Dr. Wallich named in 

 compliment to Lady Amherst. 



The Duke of Devonshire sent a collector to Birma on purpose to 

 procure a plant, and in 1839 the first living specimen was success- 

 fully brought to Chatsworth. However, a plant presented by the 

 Governor- General, Lord Hardinge, to Mrs. Lawrence, in 1847, was 

 the first to flower in England in 1849, when it was only 11 feet 

 high. 



For its perfect development, this tree requires a hot damp atmos- 

 phere. (Leguminosw.) 



4. AraucariaBidwillii, Hook. — The Bunya-bunya Pine of Queensland 



has a large edible seed. It is the loftiest of the Araucarias, reach- 

 ing a height of 250 feet. The timber is suitable for furniture, 

 being beautifully streaked ; it is hard, close-grained and durable. 



It is said that the Araucarias agree with the Eucalypti in their 

 antiseptic exhalations which destroy fever-germs in malarial dis- 

 tricts. ( Conifer a"). 



5. Arai*( aria OuNNiNGHAMil, Street. — The MoretonBay Pine forms for- 



est sin eastern Australia and NewGuinea. It grows from 100 to 130 

 feet high. The timber takes a high polish, and compares favourably 

 with satin-wood and birds-eye maple. 



Both this and A. excelsa grow at the rate of about two feet a year, 

 in almost any soil, and would doubtless succeed at any elevation in 

 Jamaica. (Coniferce) 



