ALABASTRA PHILIPPINENSIA, III. 
339 
“Andando un corto trecho divisamos una segunda colina, en el misrno lado del 
estero que la anterior y de menor elevaeion, que llaman Tapucan; en ella nos 
llamo la atencion un arbol de hermosa y ancha copa, llamado bauno ; que es suma- 
mente venenoso: de el afirma el P. Obaeh que en cierta ocasion subieron dos 
muehaehos del pueblo a dieho <irbol para recoger su fruta, que es comestible, 
y uno de ellos por haberse hecho un rasguno insignifleante en el brazo al trepar 
por 61, quedo tan envenenado al solo contacto de la herida con la corteza, que 
murio al poeo tiempo ; el otro llego & estar de gravedad y al fin con gran 
trabajo salio con bien del apuro. 
Dicen los conocedores del pais : que es cosa ya probada, que al cobijarse uno 
debajo de su sombra al llover 6 en tiempo hflmedo, le produce hincliazones ; 
y si la cae S. uno agua impregnada del jugo de sus hojas causa ampollas 6 
hinchazones, las cuales dan flebres y dolores agudos; y por poeo que se descuiden 
en tomar su contraveneno de asta de venado carbonizada, pepita de San Ignacio 
etc. mueren irremisiblemente. Arbol verdaderamente traidor, ya porque sus 
frutas son regaladas y comestibles, ya tambien porque lo somlbrfo y espeso de su 
copa eonvida a descansar debajo de el : pero ; ay ! del que incautamente all! 
reposa, atin por breve tiempo, pues paga muy cara la sombra y el descanso, 
ya que no le cueste la vida 6 graves dolores.” 10 
A drawing of the fruits represents them as nearly oval, and narrowed near 
the base, about 16 cm long, 10 cm wide; they are said to have a bluish tinge, with 
white mesocarp, and an oblanceolate seed 9 to 10 cm long. 
Local name: bauno. 
ONCOCARPUS A. Gray. 
The collections upon which this genus was based, were made in the 
Fiji Islands by the Wilkes Exploring Expedition. Pistillate flowers 
were obtained, but lost, and their description was taken from a sketch, 
drawn from memory. 17 The genus was retained by Bentham and Hooker, 
but reduced to synonymy under Semecarpus by Engler. 18 Examination 
of the pistillate flowers of certain Philippine collections, which had been 
identified provisionally as Semecarpus, showed a structure in the ovary 
and styles very distinct from that of that genus, resembling rather 
that of Melanochyla. It was at first supposed that a new genus was 
represented, but there is now little reason to doubt that these collections 
should be placed in Oncocarpus. The fact is undeniable that the nature 
of the styles is not as drawn by the members of th6 Wilkes Expedition; 
while it is on this point as evidenced by Philippine collections that the 
present claim for the validity of Gray’s genus is largely based. Fruit 
of Philippine collections has been compared at the Gray herbarium with 
the type of Oncocarpus vitiensis by Professor M. L. Fernald, who found 
that there was every external appearance of similarity. It has not been 
possible to obtain pistillate flowers of the species of Fiji, but I am 
indebted to Mr. E. G. Baker, of the British Museum of Natural History, 
for the privilege of examining one of its fruits, collected by Seemann. 
19 Cartas de los Misioneros de la Companfa de Jestis en Filipinas 1 0 ( 1895 ) 
476, 447. 
17 Bot. U. S. Expl. Exped. (1854) 364-366, pi. J/3. 
18 DC. Monogr. Phan. 4 (1883) 473, 483. 
