278 THE SPECIES OF MYBIATICA
political British India (including the Nicobar and Andaman Islands), and the proTinces
of the Malay Peninsula which, together with the islands of Singapore and Penaug,
are administered by the Government of the Straits Settlements.
By Adanson, Myristica was regarded as part of tho family of Fiaiachiers, and.-
by Jussieu it was considered to be part of tbe LauracSeg. Robert Brown was the
first to recognize that, for the genus, ordinal rank is necessary; and he placed his
order Mi/risfieecB between Proteacew and Laurinew, believing, however, that it is notclosely
allied to either. This is pretty much the position assigned to the family by>
the late Mr. Bcntham and Sir Joseph Hooker, who, in their Genera Plantarum, place
the family with Piperacem and Monimiacecs in a gi-oup next to that which contains
Laurinew, Proteacea, and ThymeUacece. M. DeCandolle, however, in his Prodromus, places
Myrktivece between Pohjgonacew and Proteacea. Besides the similarity in leaf-type and^
in habit, the affinity with Laurinecs lies in the unisexual apetalous flowers. There
is no doubt that (as Endlieher, Lindley, Sir Joseph Hooker, and Dr. T. Thomson
pointed out) there is aa alliance with Anonaueai on account of the trimerous, valvate
perianth ; estrorse antliers; apocarpous fruit; ruminate albumen, and minute embiyo.
And, in their Flora Indica, Messrs. Hooker and Thomson actually put Myristicm next to
Anonaccai, There appears to me to be little doubt that the Anonaceous genus iiielechocarpiis
also affords a connecting link, not-only by its dicBcious flowers, but by its
dotted aromatic leaves. Nutmegs, however, difier from Anonads in the great development
of the arillus in their seeds, and in theii- unisexual flowers. In the Flora of
British India Sii- Joseph Hooker, however, gives the order a place near Laurinecc. In
Lindley's opinion, Myristiccce are, however, more closely allied to Menispermaceie than to
any other family; and so impressed was ho with this view that he placed the two
orders in his Menispermal alliance (along with Monimiacew, Schizandrece and two other
small families) at a considerable distance from his Ranal Alliance, which includes
Anonacece; his chief argument for this arrangement being the unisexual character and
trimerous symmetry of the flowers. Against this view of Lindley's there is to be urged
the total difference of habit between Nutmegs and Menisperms; the universal occun-ence
of ruminate albumen in the seeds of the former, whereas in many of the latter albumen
is totally absent, and when present it is only occasionally ruminate; the seeds of
Menispermacecs, moreover, have no arillus. By the majority of botanists tlie Myrislicece
are regarded as belonging to the single genus Miiristiaa. But, within the genus, there
is no doubt considerable variety of form, and the species arrange themselves into
various, more or less natui-al, groups or sections. The first author to recognize this was
Loureiro, who in 1790 published his genus Enema. Blume is responsible for the
section Pi/rrhosa (Rumphia i. 190) ; while he adopted Lom-eiro's genus Knema as a
section, and grouped the remaining species in tJie section Myristica proper. Messrs.
Hooker and Thomson, in their masterly account of the Indian species in their Flora
Indica, added to the three sections recognized by Blume that of Jrya ; while M.
DeCandolle, in treating of the species of the whole world, increased the total number
of sections in the genus to thirteen. Only seven of these sections, however, contain
Asiatic species; the members of five being, as has already been mentioned, .entirely
American, and the solitary member of the other being African (from Madagascar).
In the Genera Plantarum of the late Mr. Bentham and Sir Josejjh Hooker only
seven sections are admitted for the species of tho whole world, and of these two
include purely American species.
OP BRITISH INDIA. 279
"Wherever it occurs the genus is a tropical one; but I feel convincod that many
species remain still to be discovered, and I consider it would be premature to attempt
to trace the geographical distribution of the known spccies more minutely than has
already been incidentally done.
I have not found 31yrisUca an easy genus. The difficulties that beset the student
of it are of two sorts—natural and adventitious. Cliief amongst the former sort are
the dioecious arrangement of the flowers; the scantiness of the female flowers ; the
succulence of the fruit, which makes its preservation in good condition for examination
an uncommon occurrence ; and finally the similarity in the form and texture of the
leaves of species not very closely allied in other respects. The adventitious difficulties
lie in the brief and insufficient accounts of their species given by all the earlier writers,
and in the loose, though often lengthy, descriptions (often founded on the most
imperfect materials) of the numerous species-of which the late Professor Miquel is
the author. I have little doubt I have blundered sadly in the account of the
British Indian species which I now venture to publish. I would have blundered
much more had it not been for the help of Sir Joseph Hooker, whose kindness
I have acknowledged above. To my- friend and colleague Dr. D. Prain I am also
beholden for many sagacious suggestions, and to his pencil I owe the drawings of
the analyses of the flowers of most of the species, Dr. Boerlage, Conservator of the
Royal Herbarium, Leiden, has, in the most friendly way, compared for me most of
n)y new species with the type specimens of Blume and Miquel which are deposited,
respectively, in the collections at Leiden and Utrecht, and to him my warmest thanks
are also due. My best acknowledgments are also due to Dr. H. Trimen, F.K.S..
Director of the Botanic Garden, Peradeniya, Ceylon, who gave me much information
about the Ceylou species, lent me his Herbarium specimens and drawings, and
permitted me to copy several of the latter. To Mr. H. M. Ridley, P.L.S.. Director
of the Botanic Garden, Singapore, I am indebted for much invaluable material, and
for the loan of the suite of specimens belonging to the Singapore Herbarium. Dr. M.
Lawson, Director of the Botanical Department, Madras, also was kind enough to lend
me the only specimens which I have ever seen of Myristica magnifiaa, Beddome.
I ought perhaps to explain that, in the measurements given in the following pages,
the length of the leaf means the length of its blade only, the measurement of the
petiole being given separately; that the breadth of a leaf is taken at its broadest
p a r t ; and that by "andrcecium" I mean to include the staminal column as well as
the anthers.
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