*CEYLON IRONWOOD (Mesua fer- 
rea). This very handsome slow-growing 
conical evergreen hardwood Indian tree 
to 60 feet has dark green mature foliage 
but young leaves are blood-red, more 
brilliant than young mango foliage. The 
new leaves slowly fade to pink and then 
turn a shining green above and shimmer- 
ing silver below. The beautiful 3-inch 
flowers appear with the flush of young 
leaves February to June and resemble 
large single roses with four snowy white 
petals like a maltese cross and a large 
bunch of yellow stamens in the center, 
with a rich fragrance that persists when 
dried. Troup says: “The tree in bloom 
is a gorgeous sight with its masses of 
white blossoms which are visited by in- 
numerable bees.” Lancaster says: “Rather 
a delicate tree to start with, it soon takes 
hold and grows strongly.” Nairne says: 
“Cultivated not so commonly as its beauty 
and fragrance deserve. There is no ex- 
aggeration in Sir W. Jones’ description: 
This tree is one of the most beautiful on 
earth, and the delicious odor of its blos- 
soms justly gives them a place in the 
quiver of Cama-dera. The timber is un- 
matched for weight or hardness by any 
other in India.” 
MANIHOT (M. esculenta var.) This 
plant from whose root tapioca is made, is 
a sport with white-variegated leaves. 
MYRRHINIUM (M. rubriflorum). One 
of three evergreen species, native of 
South America, belonging to the myrtle 
family and bearing edible fruits, but I 
have no further description. The specific 
name indicates the plant has red flowers. 
=UGANDA MILLETTIA (MM: dura). 
Eggeling reports that this handsome fast- 
growing shrub or tree to 35 feet is fre- 
quently planted for ornament in South 
African gardens. Clusters 4 to 8 inches 
long of Wisteria-like lilac flowers hang 3 
or 4 together from the leaf axils. The tree 
likes full sun. 
*>MOZAMBIQUE MILLETTIA (M. 
stuhlmanni). The Inhambane Depart- 
ment of Agriculture wrote: “This is a tree 
up to 15 feet, of irregular shape, not too 
dense, with leaves about 5 inches long; 
very attractive flowers, lavender. Good 
for street planting.” 
*CALABASH NUTMEG (Monodora 
myristica). This open-crowned deciduous 
West African tree to 80 feet casts heavy 
shade when in full leaf. It bears very 
handsome, showy fragrant flowers to 6 
inches across. These have six united 
petals, the inner 3 yellowish-white exter- 
ually, dark reddish-purple spotted in- 
ternally; the outer petals are green or red 
and yellow or orange, with dark purple 
streaks or spots. Unwin says: “A large 
tree, up to 7 feet in girth, with open 
crown and thin foliage. Its flowers are 
very conspicuous when they fall, having 
three very large pointed red petals streak- 
ed with white, almost reminiscent of an 
orchid. The edge of the petal is wavy, 
too. On the tree, the flowers hang from 
the under-side of twigs with very short 
petioles. It is the most handsome and 
largest flowering tree amongst the Mono- 
doras. It is, however, never quite so 
much covered with flowers as Monodora 
tenuifolia. The flowers are considerably 
larger, being quite half to one inch longer. 
The bole reaches a length of about 15 
feet, but is often branched lower down. 
The fruit is a large drupe, containing a 
number of small aromatic seeds.” 
*NAPOLEONA. This genus of 12 spe- 
cies of tropical African small trees in the 
Brazilnut family, is extremely rare in cul- 
tivation. The flowers are striking both be- 
cause of unusual coloring, and because 
they are crown-like, similar to those of 
the passion vines. The blossoms of N. im- 
perialis are almost stalkless, about 1%” 
diameter, outer petals purplish with a yel- 
low fringe and two inner rows of yellow- 
ish petals. These are followed by orange, 
2-inch, round guaya-like fruits. I have 
no description of N. cereifera; the specific 
name means “wax-bearing.” 
OCHNA (O. mozambiquensis). There 
are 90 species in Asia and Africa and I 
have five of them growing in my garden. 
This one is a pretty, evergreen shrub or 
small tree bearing 14-inch brilliant yellow 
flowers. When the petals fall the persist- 
ent sepals and center of the flower turn 
red, and the black seeds are imbedded 
ey ae 
