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55. Eugenia malaccexsis, Linn. — The Otaheite or Malay Apple is a very 



beautiful tree, especially when in flower. The scarlet tassels of 

 long stamens drop gradually as the flower expands, and carpet the 

 ground with brilliant colouring. The fruit is the size of an apple, 

 and is juicy though rather insipid ; it is wholesome and is used es- 

 pecially for stews. (Myrtacece.) 



56. Gtahcinia Maxgostaxa, Linn. — The celebrated Mangosteen is repre- 



sented by two trees in the garden. One of these yielded a fairly 

 large crop in the year 1891, but usually there are only a few fruits 

 produced. Dr. Roxburgh, in his Flora Indica written about 70 years 

 ago says : — " From the earliest accounts we have of this charming- 

 tree and its delicious fruit, we learn that all the innumerable at- 

 tempts hitherto made to familiarise it to other countries (than the 

 Malay Peninsula and islands to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal) 

 have uniformly piwed unsuccessful. For these 35' years past I 

 have laboured in Tain to make it grow and be fruitful on the con- 

 tinent of India. The plant has always become sickly when re- 

 moved to the north or west of the Bay of Bengal, and rarely 

 rises beyond the height of 2 or 3 feet before it perishes." It 

 fruits, however, in Ceylon. Firminger, writing 50 years later, 

 states that " the cultivation of the Mangosteen in the open air, at 

 least as high north as any part of Bengal, seems now pretty well 

 decided to be impracticable. Plants have been repeatedly intro- 

 duced into the gardens about Calcutta, but have never been known 

 to yield fruit." 



It is therefore very satisfactory to find that it has been success- 

 fully grown in Jamaica. The tree grows to a height of 30 or 40 

 feet, with simple elliptical pointed leaves, and dull-red flowers 

 about the size of a wild rose. 



Dr. Abel, writing of the fruits of Batavia, says -" First in 

 beauty and flavour, was the celebrated Alangosteen. This, which 

 has been so often eulogized by travellers, certainly merits much of 

 the praise that has been lavished upon it, It is of a spherical 

 form, of the size of a small orange ... Its succulent rind is near- 

 ly the fourth of an inch in thickness. It contains a very powerful 

 astringent juice, and in wet weather exudes a yellow gum, which 

 is a variety of gamboge. On removing the rind its esculent sub- 

 stance appears in the form of a juicy pulp, having the whiteness 

 and solubility of snow, and a refreshing, delicate, delicious flavour. 

 To define it by more precise language, is very difficult. We were all 

 anxious to carry away with us some precise expression of its qualities 

 but after satisfying ourselves that it partook of the compound taste 

 of the pine-apple and peach, we were obliged to confess that it 

 had many other equally good, but utterly inexpressible, fla- 

 vours." ( Gnttifene.) 



57. Garcinia Morella, Desrouss — The Gamboge tree grows most luxu- 



riantly in dense jungles of Cambodia. After the rainy season is 

 over, the gamboge-collectors start for the forest in search of the 

 trees which in some localities are plentiful. HaA ing found one of 

 the full size, they make a spiral incision in the bark round half 



