406 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1887. 
and the timber is beautifully grained and valuable 
for building. 
Bauhima variegata, a native of India and China, 
is a beautiful shrub >y-looking tree of 20 to 30 feet 
in height, suitable for open spaces. T ie flowers are 
handsome of a rosy-white colour. The dark wood 
is sometimes called Ebony, but is of little use The 
astringent bark has been used as a tonic in medicine, 
and also for dying and tanning. Bauhinia megalandra, 
a native of some of the West Indian Islands, may 
also be planted in the same way. 
Cassia siamea (also known as Cassia florida)* grows 
to a height of 80 feet at Oastleton. It has large, 
showy, yellow flowers. It is a native of India and 
Malaya. Cassia Fistula, the India Laburnum, has 
flowers of the same kind, it is a middle sized erect 
tree, reaching a height of 40 to 50 feet. The pulp 
round the seeds is a mild laxative 
Lagerstroemia Flos-Reghw (Queen's Flower) when 
in blossom, is one of the most showy trees of the 
Indian forests. A moist, damp climate is most suit- 
able for its growth and for the full development 
of its rose-coloured blossoms. It reaches a height 
of 50 to 60 feet. The timber is blood-red, and as 
it lasts well in water, it is used for boat-building. 
In Burmah, it is employed more than any other 
timber except teak, for a variety of purposes, but it 
soon decays under grouid. The astringent roots have 
been used as a remedy for thrush j the bark and leaves 
are purgative. 
iSpathodea campanulata grows to a height of 80 feet 
at Oastleton. The branches do not spread, but the 
ma as of rich orange-coloured flowers gives it a most 
attractive appearance. 
Caryocar nuoiferum produces the Souari or Butter 
Nuts, the kernels of which have a pleasant nutty taste, 
and from which an oil may be extracted by pressure. 
The nuts have a very hard shell, and are enclosed, 2, 
3, or 4, together in a fruit about the size of a child's 
head. The flowers are very large, and of a deep 
purplish brown colour. The tree is a native of Guiana, 
where it often grows to a height of 100 feet. Tne 
timber is very durable, and is used for ship-buildio g. 
Sterculia, carthaginensis, called " Chica " by the Bra- 
zilians and "Panama" by the inhabitants of the Isth- 
mus, is a ft le tree, 40 to 50 feet high. It has 
become naturalize ! in the West Indies, and does well 
in rhe plaias. The flowers are yellow, spotted inside 
with purple. Tne seeds are about the size of pigeons' 
eggs; they have an almond-like taste, and are some- 
times eaten. 
The Oandlenut, sometimes called Walnut (Aleurites 
triloba) grows to a height of 30 to 40 feet. The seeds 
yield oil, which is a good drying oil for paint. In 
the Sandwich Isles 10,000 g dloos are annually pro- 
duced, and used there as a in >:■ lant for their vege- 
table dyes. The cakes, left after the oil has been • 
expressed, is used as food for cattle and also mauure. 
It thrives along roads. 
The Mountain Mahoe {Hibiscus elatus), a native of 
Jamaica and Ouba reaches a height of 50 to 60 feet. 
The timber is valuable, especially to cabinet-makers; 
it has the appearance of dark-green variegated marble. 
The fibres of the bark make good ropes. The lace- 
like inner bark was at one time kuown as Ouba bark, 
from its being used as the material for tying round 
bundles of Havanah cigars. 
Three species of Ficus are growing well in the Parade 
Garden: — (1) Ficus indica is one of the Banyans, the 
roots which drop from its branches becoming new 
steins with spreading branches and fresh branch roots, 
so that of some of these trees it is said, " at the age 
of 100 years one individual tree will shade and occupy 
about one and-a-half acres, and rest on 150 stems or 
more, the main stems often with a circumference of 
50 feet, the secondary stems with a diameter of 
several feet." (Mueller.) (2) Ficus lucida, another native 
of Indica, affords dens shade (3) Ficus Benjamina, a 
native of North Australia has handsome, drooping, 
willow-like branches. It forms part of the avenue at 
* The Wa of the Sinhalese, used largely as fire- 
wood on the railway. — En. 
King's House. All these trees form very shady aveaues. 
The Ginep (Melicocca bijuga) is a native of Guima 
and New Greuaia. It is a good shade tree, and 
there are very fine examples at King's House. Tae 
timber is hard and h^avy, and the fruit has an agree- 
able flavour, but the stringy portion which is usually 
swallowed by children, is most injurious, and accord- 
ing to good medical authority has frequently caused 
death by coating the lining of the stomach. 
The Flamboyante (Poinciana regia) is a native of 
Madagascar. It is a tree with very showy flowers, 
and is suitable for planting in open apacj^, or in broad 
mixed avenues. 
The lied Bead Tree (Adenanthera Favonina) is a 
native of the East Indies and Ohina, growing up to 
an elevation of 4,000 feet in Sikkim. Tne common 
name is derived from the bead-like seeds, which are 
of a bright scarlet colour, a ad of a uniform weight 
(4 grains) so that they are used by jewellers in the 
Bast as weights. By rubbing the wood against a 
wet stone, a red dye is obtained, which is ma 3e use 
of by Brahmins for marking their foreheads after 
religious ceremonies of bathing. The tree affords hard, 
durable timber called "Ooral Wood," or "Red Sandal 
Wood." There are trees in the Parade Garden and 
in Orange Street. They are well suited for avenues. 
The Kananga (Cananga odorata) of India is largely 
cultivated there for its ornamental appearance. It is 
soft-woodel, quick growing, ultimately reaching a 
height of 150 to 200 feet. The specimen at Castleton 
is at present about 40 feet. 
The Guango or Riin Tree (Pithecolobium Saman) is 
a native of Brazil and Venezuela. It is fast-growing 
and ornamental, and very suitable for open spaces. 
It is so much desired in India that in 1880 the Jamaica 
Botanical Department sent 130 lb. weight of seed. 
Dr. King, the G >vernment Botauist in Calcutta, says 
of it: — " Tais wonderful tree grows faster than any 
hitherto introduced into Bengal with the single excep- 
tion of Oasuarina. It gives a beautiful shade and 
yields a pod with a sweet pulp which is greedily 
eaten by cattle. For avenues, cantonments, squares, 
and situations where dense shade is wanted, no ; tree 
is more suitable than this." 
The Casuarinas are mainly Australian, but are also 
found in the Eist Indies and Polynesia. They grow 
quickly but are not good shade trees, for the leaves 
are represented by scales. The general appearance 
is something like the larch. The timber called 
" beef wood" in Australia is hard; it makes excellent 
firewood, and as the ashes retain heat for a long time, 
it is much usei for ovens and steam engines. 
Casuarina equisetifolia, the Swamp-Oak, is found in 
the East Indies and Polynesia. The hard wood is 
known as "Iron-wood"; it is durable under water, 
forms good posts, and bears a considerable strain. 
This is an excellent tree for planting in sandy 
districts along the sea-coast. Casuarina. stricta, the 
Hurricane Tree, is fouud in the islands of the 
Pacific. At Oastleton, it has grown to 80 feet. 
Casuarina muricata, from India, has a showy wood 
of great weight. Grown close, it forms pretty avenues 
in narrow roads. 
The Betel-nut Palm (Areca Catechu) of Tropical Asia 
is a very graceful palm of remarkably perpendicular 
growth, with a trunk seldom more than 6 or 8 inches 
in diameter, it grows to a good height, — at Oastleton, 
it has reached 60 feet. The flowers are very fragrant. 
There is an immense trade in the nuts in the Eist, 
for the Malays and other natives use them for chew- 
ing, rolling a small piece up with some lime in leaves 
of the Betel Pepper. 
The Talipot or Umbrella Palm (Corypha umbraculi- 
fera) of India and Oeylou is a very fine Palm, 60 to 
70 feet high, with fan-shaped leaves, 12 feet in 
diameter. 
One of the Koyal Palmettos (Sabal umbraculiftra), 
a native Palm, is well worth planting. 
Tue Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) has become quite 
naturalized, groviug wild in some parts of Jamaica. 
The Coconut (Cocoa nucifera) is also suitable for 
planting. 
