98 
Order LXXIV. DIPTERACE^E. The Camphor-Tree Tribe. 
DiPTEROCARPEiE, Blume Bijdr. p, 222. (1825); FI. JavcB (1829); Wight and Arnott, 
Prodr. FI. Ind. Penins. 1. 83. (1834). 
Essential Character. — Calyx tubular, 5-lobed, unequal, persistent, and afterw^ards 
enlarged, naked at the base ; gestivation imbricated. Petals hypogynous, sessile, often 
combined at the base ; aestivation contorted. Stamens indefinite, hypogynous, distinct, or 
slightly and irregularly polyadelphous; anthers innate, subulate, opening longitudinally 
towards the apex ; filaments dilated at the base. Ovary superior, without a disk, few- 
celled; oywZes in pairs, pendulous ; single ; stigma simple. coriaceous, 1 -celled 
by abortion, 3-valved or indehiscent, surrounded by the calyx, having tough leafy enlarged 
permanent divisions which crown the fruit. Seed single, without albumen ; cotyledons, 
twisted and crumpled, or unequal and obliquely incumbent ; radicle superior. — Elegant 
trees, abounding in resinous juice. Leaves alternate, involute in vernation, with veins run- 
ning out from the midrib to the margin ; stipules deciduous, oblong, convolute, terminating 
the branches with a taper point. Peduncles terminal, or almost so, in racemes or panicles ; 
flowers usually large. 
Affinities. Very near Elaeocarpacese, but also allied to Malvaceae in the 
contorted aestivation of the corolla, and the crumpled cotyledons : the order 
differs from the latter in having the stamens either distinct or partially com- 
bined, long narrow 2-celled anthers, and pendulous ovules; and from the 
former in the petals not being fringed, and in want of albumen. Tlie resinous 
juice, compound superior ovary, drupaceous fruit, numerous long anthers, 
irregular coloured calyx, and single exalbuminous seed, ally it, as Blume 
remarks, to Guttiferae, from which the stipules and the aestivation of the corolla 
abundantly distinguish it. The enlarged foliaceous unequal segments of the 
calyx, while investing the fruit, point out this family at once. 
Geography. Only found in India, and especially in the eastern islands of 
the Indian Archipelago, where, according to Blume, they form the largest 
trees of the forest. Shorea robusta limits the northern distiibution of the 
order, being found all along the foot of the Himalaya. 
Properties. Here belongs the famous Camphor tree of Sumatra, Dry- 
obalanops Camphora, which is no doubt a species of Dipterocarpus. The 
camphor is found in a concrete state in the cavities and fissures in the heart of 
the tree. It is less volatile than the common camphor of commerce. Ed. 
P. J. 6. 400. See remarks upon this tree in Blume’s Flora Javce. It also 
yields the camphor- oil of Borneo and Sumatra; the latter is supposed to be 
camphor in a partially formed state. Shorea robusta yields a balsamic resin 
used in the temples of India under the name of ral or dhoona : Sal, the best 
and most extensively used timber in India, is produced by this tree. Royle. 
Vateria indica produces the resin called in India copal (in England known by 
the name of Gum animi), as very nearly approaching the true resin of that 
name. In its recent and fluid state it is used as a varnish (called Piney 
varnish) in the south of India {Buchanans Mysore, II. 476), and dissolved by 
heat, in closed vessels, is employed for the same purpose in other parts of 
India. As. res. XII. 539. Royle, 107. It is extremely tenacious and solid, 
but melts at a temperature of 97| Fahr. Brewster, 4. 186. Other kinds of 
resin are furnished by other species ; as, by Shorea robusta and Tumbugaia, the 
dhoona or dammer pitch, generally used in India for marine pui-poses, and as 
incense ; by various species of Dipterocarpus, the balsam called by the natives of 
India gurjun, by the Cinghalese dhoonatil, and by the English wood-oil. 
As. res. 1. c. 
GENERA. 
Lophira, Afz. 
Hopea, Wall. 
Shorea, Wall. 
Dipterocarpqs, Gaertn. 
Caryolobis, Gaertn. 
Dryobalanops, Gaertn. 
Pterigium, Gaertn. 
Vateria, L. 
