22a
C rin um.
G loriosa.
F olian thés.
C a l a m u s .
M imusops.
Ta m b o l i f e r a .
L aurus.
AfiatiCtihi, Miller's plates, tab. lio , and the Crinum Zeyla-
nkum, Tre-W's Ehret, tab. 13, is that elegant fpecies with a
white flower, and pale purple ftripe.
Superba, Com. Hort. i. tab. 69, Ind. Zool. tab. 3, well merits
the porrtpoiis name. The Gingaleje ftyle it Najajala, poffibly
from the root being poffeffed of a pöifon equally potent with
the fatal ferpeut Naja,
T he tubetofe, I’o l ia n t h e s tuberofa, Rumpb. Amboin. v.
tab. 98, a flower o f too exquifite a fcent for the majority of people.
It emits its odor moft ftrongly in the night. The Malayans
therefore ftyle it Sandal Malawi, or the miflrefs of the
Hight', comparing it to a frail fair,vifiting her lover in the dark,
fweetly perfumed, and highly drefled. It was introduced into
England in 1664, and is mentioned by our Evelyn, that glory of
his days, by the name of Tuberofe Hyacinth, in the Augufl o’f
his Kalendarium Horlenfe.
ROtang, Rumpb. Amboin. v. tab. 51 to tab. 56, are the varieties
of plants which yield the canes which are ufed to diftend the
hoops of the fair fex in Europe. They grow to lengths incredible,
ionic creeping along the ground, others climbing to the
fummits o f “the higheft trees, and form a moft grotefque fimilitude
o f cordage.
Elettgi, Rumpb. Amboin. ii. tab. 63, approaches nearly the
clove, and is remarkable for the rich odors of its flowers.
Pedunculata, ii. tab. 43, is a fruit tree o f no great vauie,
refembling an oblong plumb.
j- now are to touch on the glory o f Ceylon, perk nps of the
vegetable kingdom. The L a urus cinnamomum, Burman. Zeyl.
tab. 37, Raii Hiß. P i ii. 1554 to 1563, Woodville, i. 80, Gerard,
3 f « *
1533. This is an elegant fpecies o f laurel that grows to the
height o f twenty feet; the flowers frnall, and o f a yellowiih
Golor: the fruit pulpy, with an oblong ftone.
T his valuable tree grows in greater quantity in the ifle of
Ceylon, than any other place. It grows wild in the woods, without
any culture: every province does not poffefs it, there is
none in that of Jaffanapatam, nor Manaar, but abound in moil
of the internal parts, and aboyt Negumbo and Gale, A pigeon,
I think the Pompadour, Brown's fllujlr. tab. 19, is the fpecies,
which, by carrying the fruit to different places, is a great dif-
feminator of this valuable tree. I do not believe it to be peculiar
to this ifland ; but the bark is infinitely fuperior in .quality
to any other. Botanifts enumerate numbers of kinds, bu,t they
only vary being taken from trees .of different ages, or growing,
in different foils, and fituations. It may be found in Malabar,
Sumatra, &c. but is depretiated by another name, CaJJia, and
Canella, to our unfpeakable lofs ; Cinnamomum was a more dignified
name. The antients fpeak of it under that title, in fucjfi
high terms, that the Hutch wifely retained the name, which
gave it greateft refpectability. Our countryman, the late Taylor'
White, Efq. in Ph. Tranf. vol. 1. p. 860, and Mr .Combes, refir-
dent in Sumatra, in page 873, are entirely of opinion, that Cinr
namon and CaJJia do not fpecifically differ. Mr. White's account
-is accompanied with fome very good figures o f the leaves o f
the former.
T he celebrated bark is the inner, and is reckoned the moft
perfedt when taken from trees of feven or eight years old,, i f they
grow in a wet flimy foil ; but thofe which grow in the warm whitefand'
C innamon, o k
C a s s ia *