ON  THE  BOTANICAL  ORIGIN  OF  GAMBOGE. 
151 
estate  of  Messrs.  D'Almeida  and  Sens,  which  Cfarcinia  had 
been  brought  from  Siam  as  the  true  gamboge-tree.  Dr. 
Christison,  whose  account  appeared  in  the  "  Pharmaceutical 
Journal"  for  November,  1850,  found  this  plant  to  be  nearly 
allied  to  the  Gr.  elliptica  of  Wallich,  but  to  differ  from  that 
species  in  having  male  flowers  pedicellate,  instead  of  sessile. 
Desirous  of  carrying  the  inquiry  a  little  further,  and  of  at- 
tempting to  set  at  rest  the  question  of  the  origin  of  gamboge,  I 
recently  addressed  myself  to  Messrs.  D'Almeida,  who  promptly 
replied  to  my  letter,  and  forwarded  a  jar  containing  numerous 
specimens  of  the  gamboge-tree  cultivated  on  their  plantation  at 
Singapore.  These  specimens  I  carefully  examined,  comparing 
them  with  published  descriptions  and  figures,  as  well  as  with 
specimens  contained  in  the  herbaria  of  the  British  Museum,  of 
the  Royal  Gardens  of  Kew,  and  of  the  Linnean  Society,  in 
which  investigation  I  had  the  valuable  assistance  of  my  friend 
Professor  Oliver.  The  correctness  of  Dr.  Christison's  observa- 
tion respecting  the  pedicellate  flowers  was  immediately  obvious, 
and  it  was  also  evident  that  the  plant,  but  for  this  character, 
bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  Grarcinia  elliptica;  we  noticed 
further  thas  it  came  equally  near  to  the  Gr.  Morella  of 
Desrousseaux.  Under  these  circumstances  we  thought  it  desi- 
rable to  obtain  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Thwaites,  who,  besides  being 
an  excellent  botanist,  was  familiar  with  various  species  of  Q-ar- 
cinia  in  a  living  state,  and  especially  with  Gr.  Morella.  Mr. 
Thwaites,  after  examining  specimens  of  the  Singapore  gamboge- 
tree,  which  we  had  sent  to  him  in  Ceylon,  replied  that  the  plant 
was,  in  his  opinion,  a  form  of  Gr.  Morella,  scarcely  differing 
from  the  Ceylon  type,  except  in  having  pedicellate  instead  of 
sessile  flowers.  This  opinion  was  completely  in  accordance 
with  that  of  Professor  Oliver  and  other  botanists  whose  opinion 
I  had  asked,  and  I  therefore  felt  warranted  in  bringing  the 
plant  before  the  Linnean  Society,  in  whose  "Transactions"  a 
figure  of  it  has  been  published,  under  the  following  name  and 
synonyms : — 
Garcinia  Morella,  Desrouss.,  var.  pedicellata. 
G.  Morella,  Desrousseaux,  in  Lamarck's  Encylop.  Method.  Botan.  iii. 
701,  pi.  405,  fig.  2  ;  Thwaites,  Enum.  Plant.  Zeylan.  i.  49. 
G.  elliptica,  Wallich,  Catal.  no.  4869. 
G.  Gulta,  Wight,  Illustr.  of  Indian  Botany,  i.  126,  tab.  44  (exclus. 
synon.  Linnaji). 
