May t, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
985 
t. r 
ter, 
from 
Bom 
TROPICAL FRUITS. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " FIELD. ,; 
for the manner in which the 
unco as it devclopes from Us 
I entire leaves, to its ndult 
; pinnatiscct leaves ; as well as 
is, wliich appear to have long 
cs of the countries the plant 
stems) a little 
the juice, whic 
oalle 
form 
xhnp 
They 
fished a 
brought 
m— not 
V T. D. 
M. 
I 
ho s 
this 
mat 
1 means sanguine that the mangosteen could 
ily roared in European hothouses. I say 
knowledge of the fruit, and not from my 
with hothouses, which is nil. The only places 
bes perfection aro Malaya and South Amer- 
ica it grows absolutely wild in tho centre 
ula. Attempts have been made to grow it 
rith hut scant success. It is impossible to 
the climatic or other conditions at the 
bottom of all this, just as it is impossible to say why 
the Primula imperialis will only grow to perfection on 
the solitary mountain-top of the Pangorango, Java, and 
deteriorates when transplanted to other mountain-tops. 
F. T. P. mentions grapes and peaches from India and 
Assam. Does not this suggest that it would bo far more 
to tho purpose to introduce these fruits into Asia where 
it is proved they would flourish, and thus provide a 
really needed luxury for tho sweltering Anglo-Indian in 
tho plains? What would one not give for a bunch of 
good grapes in Calcutta in June ? At Mandalay, Upper 
Burmah, I have seen a grape vine as line as ever I 
saw it in Germany ; and 1 was assured that tho crop 
was splendid. When I arrived there was not a bud to 
be seen; and when- 1 left, a month later, the vino was 
covered with tiny bunches of fruit, so rapid was the 
growth. The vino was tho only one in Mandalay. In 
the same garden were some fig trees, the fruit of which 
I tastod, and found it perfeot. This was in tho montli 
of September. As a proof that vino culture would pay 
in India, I may mention (bat tho owner of tho Man- 
dalay vine was offered fifteen hundred rupees for his 
1877, '78 crop. — E. T. S. 
THE TONGA PLANT. 
and also of the 
gether the Tonga 
one, all the more 
ioy are not acrid. Alto- 
rs to be a rather useful 
ig the order to which it 
(EWPREUNTJM MIUAniLE, SCHOTT.) 
"Tonga, the spocilie for neuralgia."- Such is an ad- 
vertisement of Messrs. Allen mid Hanlmry's that lias 
now been before the public for many months past. Tonga 
is a vegetable drug, and the material from which it is 
prepared is stated to consist of a mixture of bark and 
fibrous matter, the botanical origin of which was for 
some time unknown. The Tonga plant itself is an orna- 
mental climber of rapid growth, with bold dark green 
piimatiBect leaves iii tho adult stago, aud largo inilor- 1 
osconccM, resembling thoso of a Monstera or Rhaphi- 
dophora. It is a very suitable plant for training up 
pillars, trunks ol L'.iltn ., Tree [•'erns. .V.-.. or (he buck j 
wall of a niove ; ami besides its ornamental character 
906 
Jelongs, whose members are more noted for their doubt- 
ful and poisonous qualities than for their good and use- 
ful ones. 
Tho following is a description of the Tonga plant, 
chiefly compiled from Mi - . Bull's specimen, omitting hero 
the full synonymy:— 
Epipremxum MlR-UilLE, Schott, Genera Aroidearum p. 79.— 
Stem climbing in juvenile plants slender, about one-tenth inch 
thick, in adult flowering plants about 1 inch thick, clothed to- 
wards the apex with the persistent fibrous remains of the scale- 
leaves* Smallest leaves of juvenile plants, with a petiole 1^—1* 
to the gcuiculus. Lamina 11— 2" niche* Ion-, 7—12 inches broad, 
Shilling dark green, oblong or elliptic-oblong in outline, acute, 
cordate or suheprdate at the base, more or less oblique, pinnntisect 
nearly to the midrib, and having numerous small perforations 
and pellucid spots scattered along the region of the midrib, bat 
not confined to that part ; segments varying from 1 — 10 in num- 
ber on each side, but more numerous on one side than on the 
Other, straight or somewhat faleate, alt except the lowest of about, 
equal breadth throughout their length (usually 1 — 2 inches broad;, 
ni>ex truncate or somewhat convcxly truncate, the upper edge 
produced into an ncuminate poiut ; the terminal lobe more or 
less diamond-shaped, much larger than the rest. Primary lateral 
nerves 2 — 3 in each of the liasal segments, one only up the centre 
of the other segments, or sometimes two or more," when two or 
more segments are united into one, spreading, running out straight 
almost to the margin, and then curved into the acuminate point ; 
midrib and nerves rather impressed above, very prominent and 
rounded beneath. Peduncle 4— 0 inches long, terete. Si«ithe 1— 4J 
inches long, ovate, boat-slmped, shortly ... cuspidate-acute, ' green 
outside, puce-colourcd inside. Spadix sessile, much shorter than 
the spathe, eylindrie obtuse, green, about two-thirds of nil inch 
thick. Ovaries cnne&te, sub-hexagonal; truncate, Quo-called, with 
n septiforui placenta projecting one-third across the cell, liearing 
two ovules, one on either side at its l>ase (rarely only one ovule); 
stigma sessile, linear. — Schoft, Pralroimis Arahltarum, p. 383 . 
Kugler, in DC. Monog. Phanerog, ii„ p. 2491 fto. 
Widely distributed, inhabiting Java, Sumatra, P.aly, 
Amhoina, Timor, Fiji Islands, Tropical Australia, and 
in tho Kew Herbarium is a specimen of what I take 
to be tho Fame species from Whampoa, China (Ilauce, 
No. lo.OOO) — N. E. BitowN, Herbarium, Kew. — Qnrden- 
tra' Chronicle. 
If ( understand the description* aright of the various author* 
octidroti, for 
