Flora Medica

CLUSIACEJE OR GUTTIFERJE.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 74.HEBRADENDRON.Flowers unisexual. $. Sepals 4, membranous, permanent.Petals 4. Stamens monadelphous, with a quadrangularcolumn, anthers terminal, with an umbilicated circumscissileoperculum. $ unknown. Berry many-(4) celled . ; cells1-seeded; surrounded by a few abortive distinct stamens andcrowned by a sessile lobed muricated stigma. Cotyledons t'hick,consolidated. Radicle central, filiform. Graham.225. H. Cambogioides Graham in Comp. to Bot. mag.ii. 199. t. 27. Cambogia gutta Linn. zeyl. 87. Mangostana MorellaGcertn. ii. 106. t. 105. Garcinia Morella Desr. in Lam.encycl. iii. 701. DC.prodr. i.561.Kana Goraka" Cing.)Ceylon. (" Gokatu" orA tree of moderate size. Leaves opposite, petiolate, obovato-elliptical,abruptly subacurainate, coriaceous, smooth, shining, dark-greenabove, paler below, veins in the recent state inconspicuous, especiallyabove ;in the dried state, distinct on both sides. Flowers unisexual,monoecious (or dioecious ?). Male small (8 to 9 lines across), clusteredin the axils of the petioles, on short single-flowered peduncles. Sepals4, subequal, imbricated, concave, membranous, veined, the outersubentire, and somewhat coriaceous in the bud, the inner sparinglydenticulato-ciliate, yellow on the inside, yellowish-white on the outside.Petals 4, spathulato-elliptical, coriaceous, crenulate, longer than thecalyx, yellowish-white, red on the inside near the base, deciduous.Stamens monadelphous column;4-sided ;anthers in a roundishcapitulum, terminal upon a short clavate free portion of the filament,opening by the circumcision of a flat umbilicate lid ; pollen yellow,granules elliptical. No trace of an ovary. Female flower unknown.Berry about the size of a cherry, round, with a firm reddish-brownexternal coat, and sweet pulp, 4-locular, surrounded at the base by thepersisting calyx and a few free abortive stamens, crowned with the4-lobed tubercled sessile stigma loculament ; single-seeded. Seeds largein relation to the berry, reniform-elliptical, compressed laterally ; integumentsyellowish-brown, easily separable into two layers ; cotyledonsthick, cohering into an uniform cellular mass ;radicle central, filiform,slightly curved. Graham, I.e. This plant has now been proved toyield a kind of gamboge not distinguishable chemically or medicinallyfrom that of Siam. But as no gamboge is imported from Ceylon thereremains some doubt whether the Siamese and Cingalese plants areidentical. Dr. Christison inclines to the opinion that they are, andthat the notion of Murray is admissible who supposed that the treeyielding gamboge was carried from Siam to Ceylon along with the113 i