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STALAGMITIS CAMBOGIOIDES. 
ceptacle. Style thick. Stigma four-lobed. Berry one- 
celled, crowned by the style, three-seeded. 
The Gamboge Tree is a native of the kingdom of Siam, and 
Ceylon, where it is known by the names of Ghokata, Gokkata, or 
Gohlatha. Kcenig who resided many years at Siam, clearly ascer- 
tained that the Stalagmitis is the tree that affords the genuine 
drug. 
It is a middling sized tree, and branched ; the leaves are of a dusky 
green, and stand opposite on short petioles, they are ovate, entire, 
even, coriaceous, and rigid ; the hermaphrodite flowers are in 
axillary whorls, or on the joints of the smaller branches ; the male 
flowers are either in distinct clusters, or mixed with the hermaphro- 
dite ; the calyx consists of four ovate leaflets, the two exterior of 
which are smaller than the two inferior ; the petals are four, spread- 
ing, coriaceous, with ciliated margins, and of a yellow colour ; the 
stamens are about thirty, and placed upon a quadrangular fleshy 
receptacle; the anthers are club-shaped; sometimes there are 
rudiments of a style, and an unequal sterile stigma ; the calyx, 
corolla, and stamens of the hermaphrodite flowers resemble those of 
the male ; the germen is globular, and supports a short style, 
crowned with a three or four-lobed stigma, the lobes of which are 
obcordate and persistent ; the fruit is a smooth, globular, yellow, or 
rosaceous berry, crowned by the style and lobes of the stigma, and 
contains several long triangular seeds. 
But the Stalagmitis Cambogioides is not the only tree that pro- 
duces gamboge, although it is probable the greater part of that 
brought to market is the product of that tree; there are several 
trees which yield yellow gum resin, resembling in every respect the 
gamboge of the shops, viz. Gambogia Gutta, Garcinia Celehica, 
Hypericum Pomiferum, and many other plants. 
Gamboge is obtained by wounding the bark of the tree with sharp 
stones, or by breaking oft' the leaves and young shoots : the former 
mode is usually practised in Ceylon, and the latter at Siam. It is 
said to be collected first in cocoa nut shells, and from thence poured 
into the joints of the bamboo, (which gives it the cylindrical form,) 
or earthen vessels, where it remains until it becomes sufficiently 
dry to roll into masses, when it is wrapped up in leaves, the sfate in 
which it is usually exported. Gamboge was first brought to Europe 
about the middle of the seventeenth century : it is imported packed 
in cases or boxes. 
