74 
MYRISTICA MOSCHATA. 
The Nutmeg Tree* 
Class DiCECiA. — Order Monadelphia. 
"NaL Ord. Lauri, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Male. Calyx bell-sbaped, trifid. Corolla 
none. Filaments united into a colamnar tube. Anthers six 
or ten cohering. 
Female. Calyx bell-shaped, trifid, deciduous. 
Corolla none. Style none. Stigma two. Seed solitary, 
inclosed in a coriaceous arillus (mace). 
Spec. Char. Leaves elliptic, oblong, pointed. Perianth of 
one leaf, coriaceous. 
This tree is a native of the Molucca Islands. It was unknown to 
Linnseus,t and was first described by Thunberg. Wildenow in 
describing this tree says, " habitat in Moluccis ;" but we are told 
by AlibertJ that it is also a native of America. Its cultivation is 
chiefly confined to Banda, which includes six small islands, Pulo- 
Aya, Goenenga, Apia, Lenteira, Polerona, and Rosfengenia. It is 
also cultivated in Sumatra, where a great quantity is reared, suffi- 
cient we are told to supply the whole of Europe with nutmegs and 
mace. 
This tree rises to the height of about thirty feet, and in appear- 
ance resembles a pear-tree, producing many erect, spreading 
branches, which, as well as the trunk, are covered with a smooth, 
ash-coloured bark, abounding in a reddish, glutinous juice, which 
* Fig. a. section of the ripe fruit, b. The raace from which the nut has been 
removed, c. The seed or natmeg. d. Vertical section of the nut. e. Two views 
of the embryo magnified. /. A female flower cut open to shew the pistiHum. g. A 
male flower cut open, shewing the anthers, h. A magnified anther. 
+ It is probable our knowledge of the nutmeg tree was derived from the Arabians, 
but that the Mi/go^aXavoc of Galen, or the Kaj/otaxov of Theophrastus, should be, as sup- 
posed by many, the tree we are about to describe, is very doubtful. 
t Nouveaux^^emens de Therapeutic, vol. ii. p. 219. 
