6 
green and yellow, of that of the Avocado Pear, which in flavour, it 
IS said, much to resemble. The fruits I received from Mr. HEWITT 
delicious ” PC t0 ^ bUt 1 am assured b >* a11 that the flavour is 
The wood is not used being quickly destroyed by termites. An oil 
is extracted from the seeds by the natives but for what use is not 
known. 
The fruit can be eaten raw like an Avocado Pear, or it is used 
in curries as a sumbul. Mrs. Ellis tells me she has -made a very 
pleasing dish by extracting the stone and filling the space with 
Mayonnaise Sauce, the fruit being previously cooked. The Dyaks 
scald it and eat it with salt. The tree is well worth cultivating not 
only for its fruit but for its intrinsic beauty. It is a tree of large 
size with dark green leaves glaucous beneath. The flowers pro- 
duced m vast abundance are yellow, so plentiful indeed are they 
that the ground beneath the tree when I saw it was quite covered 
with those that had fallen. 
Like the Avocado Pear ( Per sea gratissima) the tree belongs to 
the order Launnea? and to the very large genus Litsea . 
ihe following is a description of the plant:— 
* £n, S f a / erSel ( a ‘ n ' SP T A tr t ee ° f great size ’ 40 to 60 feet tall with 
nm nnl!/ k’ TT ^eolate inequilateral, apex of the midrib 
prolonged beyond the blade to form a mucro, base cuneate, above 
deep green coriaceous shining beneath glaucous, nerves elevated 
Det I iolp h h S f nder - I3 v.^ alrS ’ 9 inches >°ng 3 inches wide, alternate 
petiole ha f an inch long. Racemes axillary 1J-2 inches lone 
Snrt S ^ g e<1 . pubes ‘ :ent - Heads of flo wer S 2 or 3 together on‘a 
short silky pubescent pedhncle. Male flowers, bracts 3 ovate silkv 
PerfamTl h° b ^ Cd ' 1 F '° Wers 5 on short thick silky pedicels. 
Penanthlobes 3-4 unequal ovate or linear— ovate silky, a few scale 
slendeXiry. 5 “* ba “ ° f the st “' Stamens 12 filaments 
! emaIe flowers I ha y not seen. The fruit is borne in a green 
inch long Ch aCr ° SS ’ and shallow with a thickened obconic base an 
Fruit g.ob°se with -lightly flattened top, i£ inch through, smooth 
an ^nrh P “ P v' C - k fles, J y S reen - Seed rounded-flattened nearly 
an inch through shining pale brown. y 
H. N. Ridley. 
NEW PALMS AND AROIDS. 
The following palms have been added to the collection in the 
Bulle"!^- ardenS S ' nCe previous list was Published in the 
Pinanga sp. 
P. acaulis Rid I. 
Ptychosperma, n. sp. .. 
Geonoma, n. sp. 
Borneo 
Perak 
Solomon Islands 
Mexico 
