3 lineas v. rariùs semiunciain latu, utrinque plana, nitida, enervia, pallidè vindia, bast latiuscnla, vix un-
gustata (nt in D. ojientalï). Amenta solitaria, in apice ramulorum axillaria, pedicello crasso brevissimo
sufi'ulta; masculacylindrica, erecta, uncialia, diametro 2-lineari, valdé compacta, iinbricata, dura, basi
nonnullis bvacteolis rotundatis instructa : antheris in singulà squamâ 3 ! pendulis, sub peltä v. cristâ convexâ
suborbiculatâ crassâ osseâ integerrimâ adnatis, vix inter se coalitis, circa latus inferius columellæ dispo-
sitis, singulis polline sulphureo turgidis, bilocularibus, duplici rimâ longitudinali dehiscentibus ; foeminea
erecta, oblonga, uncialia, pedicello brevissimo crasissimoque ligneo suffulta. Strohili sparsi, in summo
ramulorum solitarii, turbinati, erecti, pedicellati: squamis brevibus, latissimè cuneatis, crassis, coriaceis,
arcte imbricatis, intus ferrugineis, margine dilatatis undulatis atque membranaceis, extùs versus apicem
crassioribus, ligneis, cartilagineis, lævissimis, duris, plumbeo-cinereis, apice patulis acutis. Semina bina,
cuneata, fusca, apice alâ tcnuissimé membranaceâ integerrimâ obliquâ pallidâ instructa.
When I published my former work on Pines; although I was well aware that the Dammar would prove a
very different genus from Pinus; yet, as 1 had not then sufficient materials to enable me clearly to define its
characteristic marks, I preferred uniting it to that genus. Great credit is due to Mr. Salisbury, who, in his valuable
paper on the Conferee inserted in the “ eighth volume of the Transactions of the Linntean Society,” was
the first to separate it, and has there, with great accuracy, determined its distinguishing characters. The fine
species, of which I have here given a figure is a valuable addition to the genus, and will serve to illustrate and
establish with greater precision those important marks, on which the genus is founded. I have retained the
old name given to this genus by Rhumphius, in preference to that proposed by Mr. Salisbury. I am not disposed
to agree with that gentleman regarding the structure of the anthers, which he considers as being many-
celled ; instead of considering each as composed of three bilocular anthers very slightly cohering together.
This latter is the view, which I am inclined to take respecting the structure of the anthers in Dammara,
and I am farther supported in this opinion, by the same structure occurring in Araucaria, where the anthers
are still more evidently separate from each other. In Dammara the cotyledons are two, and constantly undivided,
having none of those longitudinal lines of separation, which we find in Abietince Cupressince and other
sections of the order Coniferce. The Dammara Australis may justly be ranked as one of the finest timber trees
which New Zealand produces, often rising to the amazing height of 140 feet, with a diameter, near the base
of 4 or 7 feet. Its trunk is straight and even-grained, rendering it very suitable for ship masts. The tree
yields, both by incision and spontaneously, vast quantities of a pure and limpid resin, which soon hardens on
exposure to the air. An extensive cabinet-maker has tried this resin in varnishing, and declares that it is
equal, if not superior, to the best copal varnish. This valuable resin is perhaps deserving of attention as an
article of commerce. For the branch, represented in the plate, I am indebted to the friendship of John
Deas Thompson, Esq. Commissioner of the Navy. It was brought home by Capt. Downie, under whose
orders two ships were sent by Government sometime ago, for the purpose of procuring timber fit for shipbuilding.
Captain Downie had the kindness to present me with a large mass of the Cowrie resin, contained
in a box made of the timber, which, in grain, resembles the finest deal* The Firms Dammara, which I propose
to call Dammara Orientalis, may be characterised as follows:
* t am indebted to my friend John Barrow, Esq., Secretary to the Admiralty, for the following statement of a comparison, which he made
between a piece of Cowrie and Riga Fir.
A piece of Cowrie 1£ inch square, 3 feet long, suspended 10 inches from the end, bore the weight of lewt. 2qrs. 151bs. at the other end,
before it broke. The piece weighed lib. lOoz.
A piece of Riga Fir bore the weight of lewt. 2qrs 111b. The piece weighed, lib. 8oz