608 
LANSIUM DOMESTICUM. (Meliaceae . ) 34421, 34496. Seeds of 
the langsat from Mindanao. Philippine Islands, and Singapore, 
Straits Settlements. Presented by Mr. P. W. Popenoe, Altadena, 
Cal. "There are two distinct forms of this species, the 
langsat, or lanzon as it is known in the Philippines, and the 
duku, or doekoe. 
"It is not surprising that little notice has been taken 
of the existence of these two forms, in view of the fact that 
the species has received practically no attention from pomolo- 
gists. The duku, the larger and better of the two, is one of 
the finest of the Malayan fruits. Although not equal to the 
mangosteen, or so popular among the natives as the rambutan, 
it is a common tree in gardens and along the roadsides, and 
the fruit is common in the markets. 
"The duku does not appear to occur in the Philippines, 
although the langsat is said to be common in the southern 
islands. In the Federated Malay States, however, it is much 
more popular than the langsat. The normal form of the duku 
is spherical; although fairly uniform in shape there is much 
difference in the size of the fruits, the smallest being not 
over an inch in length, while the largest are over 2 inches. 
The skin is slightly furrowed longitudinally, is a dull brown- 
ish yellow in color, and covered with grayish tomentum. The 
skin is quite thick, and although tough and leathery is read- 
ily peeled off, exposing the whitish, translucent flesh, 
divided into 5 segments resembling the cells of an orange, but 
more easily separated. A small amount of intercellular tissue 
is usually present, and this must be carefully removed before 
the fruit is eaten, as it has an intense and disagreeable 
terebinthine flavor. Three or four of the cells will be found 
to contain no seeds, or at most only rudimentary ones, and can 
be eaten entire; the one or two cells which contain perfect 
seeds are usually larger than the rest, and as the pulp ad- 
heres to the seed quite tenaciously, they are more difficult 
to handle. The flavor of the pulp resembles that of no tem- 
perate fruit; it is subacid or sometimes rather acid , aromatic , 
and very pleasant, unless one happens to obtain a specimen not 
fully ripe, in which case there is a strong taste of turpen- 
tine; like most other Malayan fruits, however, this one has 
not become popular with Europeans. The duku is produced on 
small terminal clusters, containing from two to five fruits. 
As the individual fruits do not ripen at the same time, they 
are picked separately, with the result that one seldom sees 
— clusters of the fruit in the market. 
"The langsat varies from the above description in being 
oval, produced in larger clusters, and having a much thinner 
skin, by which characters it can be immediately distinguished. 
"During its season the langsat is quite common in the 
