169 



25. Cassia Fistula, Linn — The Indian Laburnum, has beautiful 



yellow flowers ; it is a middle sized erect tree, reaching a height 

 of 40 to 50 feet. The pulp round the seeds is a mild and laxative. 

 (Leguminosce.) 



26. Cassia siamea, Lam. — (also known as Cassia florida) grows to a 



height of 80 feet at Castleton. It has large, showy, yellow 

 flowers. It is native of India and Maliya. ( Leguminosce.) 



27. Castilloa elastica, Cerr. — The Castilloa Rubber tree has been des- 



cribed by Dr. Morris, who saw it growing in British Honduras on 

 most of thecohune ridges, along the banks of rivers, and in the valleys. 

 " It grows to a height of about 40 to 50 feet ; has a thick clean 

 stem, about 2 feet in diameter at the base, and in habit of growth 

 much resembles a bread-fruit tree, to which it is closely allied. 

 The leaves are large, oblong in shape, and clothed, especially in the 

 young state, with a dense coat of hairs. The flowers appear in 

 February or March." The tree is fit to be tapped when it is from 

 7 to 10 years old. The proper season is after the autumn rains, 

 which occur some months after the trees have ripened their fruit, 

 and before they put forth buds for the next season. 



Belt, in his charming book, the " Naturalist in Nicaragua," thus 

 describes the process of obtaining the rubber. ""When the col- 

 lectors find an untapped tree in the forest, they first make a lad- 

 der out of the lianes that hang from every tree ; this they do by 

 tying short pieces of wood across them with small lianas, many of 

 which are as tough as cord. They then proceed to score the bark 

 with cuts which extend nearly round the tree like the letter V, the 

 point being downward. A cut like this is made about every 3 feet 

 all the way up the trunk. The milk will all run out of a tree in 

 about an hour after it is cut, and is collected into a large tin bottle 

 made flat on one side and furnished with straps to fix on a man's 

 back. A decoction is made from another liana (the moon flower, 

 Ipomcea bona-nox), and this on being added to the milk, in the 

 proportion of one pint to a gallon, coagulates it to rubber, which 

 is made into round flat cakes. A larger tree, 5 feet in diameter, 

 will yield when first cut about 20 gallons of milk, each gallon of 

 makes 2^ lbs. of rubber." 



The Castilloa tree is a deep feeder, preferring soil which is a 

 deep loam. It may be grown along river-banks to give them sta- 

 bility. It grows rapidly, and in its native forests gives a return in 

 rubber in 8 or 10 years. 



The name Castilloa is derived from the small town of Castillo on 

 the river San Juan in Nicaragua, one of the centres of the rubber 

 trade. " It was near Castillo that Nelson lost his eye. He took the 

 fort by landing about half a mile lower down the river, and drag- 

 ging his guns round to a hill behind it by which it was command- 

 ed." (Urticacece.) 



28. Chrysalidocarpus lutescens, Wendl. — is a singular and handsome 



palm from Madagascar, with several stems growing from the same 

 root. (Palnue.) 



