REPORT ON THE CAOUTCHOUC OF COMMERCE. 
19 
TJrostigma laccifenm , Miq., Mo. Ind. Bat., v. i. p. 575. Tliwaites’ 
Enum. PL- Zeylan., p. 265. 
Synonym. — Ficus laccifera , Boxb., Elo. Ind., iii. p. 545. 
Wight’s Ic. t. 656. 
Geographic Distribution. — Assam, Java, Ceylon, &c. 
Bemarks. — The late Dr. Anderson, when in England, as- 
sured me that he believed a part of Assam Caoutchouc 
was furnished by this tree. It would be interesting and 
useful to collect authentic specimens. 
General Bemarks. — Ficus elastica is the chief, if not the only 
source of Assam and Java Caoutchouc. Other Artocarps deserve to 
be examined, especially those of the genus Ficus and Artocarpus , 
A. chaplasha and laJcoocha — for instance.* Mr. Leeds, writing from 
the Silligoree Camp, Sikkim, says he has collected and sold 
Caoutchouc obtained from Ficus Indica. Is this a slip of the pen ? 
It does certainly yield Caoutchouc, but, it has always been stated, 
in insufficient quantities for commercial purposes. 
Ficus elastica , Boxb. 
Indian or Assam Caoutchouc. 
Geographic Distribution and Climatic Conditions. — To Mr. Gustav 
Mann’s very excellent and valuable Beport on the Caoutchouc 
Trees in the Durrung District, f and a long, valuable MS. accoimt 
furnished me by the same gentleman’, through the kindness and 
courtesy of Dr. Brandis, the Inspector General of Indian Eorests, 
I am chiefly indebted for the geographic distribution, &c. 
The Ficus elastica is found along the foot and in the low tropical 
valleys of the Himalayas, from the Mechi Bivcr on the Nepaul 
boundary at 88° E. long., to the extreme eastern boundary of 
Assam, 79° E. long., as well as along the foot and in the low valleys 
of the southern mountains of the Brahmapootra valley, viz. the 
Patkye Mountains, the Xaga, Khasi Jynteah and Garrow Hills. 
Although found so far west as the Nepaul boundary, it is not 
abundant until east of the Bor Nuddee (the western boundary of 
the Durrung district), where it is common in the forests at the foot 
* From what I recollect of a specimen I have seen, said to bo from this tree, it had. 
a brittle and non-elastic character very like that of Bassia elliptica Dalz. 
-j- “Progress Report of Forest Administration in Bengal for the Year 1868-69.” 
Calcutta, 1869. t 
B 2 
