127 
FUNTUMIA ELASTICA FLOWERING IN 
JOHORE. 
Funtumia e/astica is not a tree that ha’s so far dont? very well in 
the Malay Peninsula. It seems to be unsuited £o our soil and 
climate, and is very badly damaged by caterpillars. Recently 
however, I saw quite a fine little tree in a garden belonging to 
Rajah Hitam Nongchie of Johor, which had attained a height of 
about 12 or 14 feet and a girth of stem of a foot. Its leaves were 
larger and deeper green than one usually sees them and quite free 
from the attacks of caterpillars though a neighbouring plant had 
been badly attacked and was stunted in growth. The tree had also 
produced flowers, and when I saw it' was producing a fresh crop 
of buds. It had not fruited. The soil it was growing in was very 
sandy and dry. 
H. N. RIDLEY. 
LE CAOUTCHOUC EN JNDO-CHINE. 
This is a nicely illustrated work of 260 pages by Messrs. C. and A. 
SPIRE on the native rubber plants of French Indo-China. It com- 
mences with descriptions and figures of Fcdysanthera rosea , Para- 
barium Tournieri , P. I ati folium, P. spireanum , P. Quintareti , P. 
napeense, P. verneti, P. linocarpum and others Parameria glanduli- 
feria , Aganonerion polymorphum , Michrechitesjacqueti, Xylinabaria 
Reynaudi X. minutijlora and X. spirei. ^Chonemorpha gran- 
dieriana, C. Megacalyx , C. Griffithii, Nonettea coch inch inensis, 
Amalocalyx microlobus, Rynchodia Capusii, Aganosma Harman - 
diana, Melodinus Tournieri , Bousigonia mekongeysis , and B. angusti- 
folia, Pottsia cantotiensis , several species of Ervatamia , Holarrhena 
Ichnocarpus frutescens . 
Many of these are hardly to be classed as Kubber-vines as their 
product is poor and scanty. The P^rabariums , seem to give 
good rubber, which on analysis of several kinds give 82*22 to 88*45 
per cent, pure rubber of good quality. 
Chonemorpha Griffithii, a plant which occurs on Penang hill 
gave 90*05 but its rubber was sticky and evidently very poor stuff. 
The Xylinbarias and Nucrechites , are the species recommended to 
be propagated. There is some difficulty in preventing the -Anna- 
mites from destroying the vines by cutting them to death and as 
the vines are smaller than Landolphia and very twisted it is difficult 
to tap them or to remove the bark without injury. The treatment 
of the bark by pounding in a mortar also used for Landolphia at 
Brazzaville. 
These rubber-vines do not seem really very inviting as cultivated 
plants. Those we have in the Peninsula Chonemorpha Griffithii , 
Pottsia cantoniensis (a very weedy thing) Par anurias, Ecdysantheras 
Ichnocarpus frutescens , are slow growers, and never seem to attain 
any great size. Willughbeias and Urceolas a more likely group of 
