Horsfieldia sylvestris is a wild nutmeg of the eastern 
islands of Malaysia, which prunes itself in a very striking 
manner, branches of even ten feet in length being thrown 
off. Another wild nutmeg, Myristica bivalvis, is to be 
found on Lawn B. Neither of these is economic. 
The Gymnosperms (that is, naked-seeded plants), 
which the Gardens possess, have been collected, as far as 
possible^ into the neighbourhood of the Main Gate, and 
extend through the south-eastern part of the Gardens, 
between the Gate and the Bandstand Hill. Exceptions are 
that certain species of Gnetum exist wild in the Gardens* 
Jungle, and that a group of Cycads has been placed upon 
the side of the Palm Valley on Lawn X because the 
caterpillar of a little blue butterfly effects such extensive 
damage to them as to make some scattering necessary. 
The families of the Gymnosperms are represented in the 
Gardens as follows : — (i) the Podocarpaceae, by Dacrydium elatam^ 
which is growing upon Lawns B, C and O, in several individuals, 
and is already about 50 ft. high ; and by several species of 
Podocarpus, e.g., P. polystachym (Lawns B, D, J and O), P. imbricatus 
(Lawns A, C, D and O), P. macrophyllm (Lawns B and Z), P. maki, 
which is best considered as a sub-species of the last-named (Lawn 
X), and P. nenifolius, in tub-culture ; (2) the Araucariaceae, in the 
genus Araucaria by trees, some of them now about 80 ft. high, of 
four species, being A. BidwiUii (on Lawns B and C), A. Cookii (on 
Lawns A, B and C), A. Cunninghamii (on Lawns B, C and D), and 
A, excelsa (on Lawn C) ; and in the genus Agathis by trees of 
similar height of A. vitiemis (on Lawns B, E, Z, and near the 
Assistant Curator’s house) and perhaps of A. robusta ; (3) the 
Taxodiaceae, which is the family of the giant Sequoias of California 
and The magnificent Cryptomerias of Japan, only by Sciadopitys 
verticillata (in tub-culture and kept alive with great difficulty) ; 
(4) the Cupressaceae or family of the cypresses and junipers, by 
Cupressus /unebris (on Lawn J), Thuja orientals (on Lawn D), 
Juniperus con/erta (on the Sun-Rockery), and /. chinensis (on Lawns 
B, C and D), and further by Cupressus torulosa (in tub-culture) ; 
(5) the Cycadaceae, by specimens of fair size of Cycas Rumphii 
(on Lawns D, L, W and X), of C. siamensis (on Lawns D and X), 
9 
ARAUCARIA COOKII. 
[Photo by R, E. Haltttim. 
