THE SPECIES OF MTRISTICA
•with irregular scattered tufts of flocculent wool; upper shining, lower sub-glaucous;
lateral nerves 20 to 30 pairs, prominent below, spreading; lengtii 1 to 2 feet, breadth
2-5 to 7 in.; petiole stout, -5 in. long. Male floivers in clusters o£ 6 to 9 from tubercles
in the axils of fallen leaves, '35 in. in diam.; pedicels 'To to l'2o in., the bracteole above
the middle, adpressed. Perianth obovoid. the teeth 3, broadly triangular, fleshy, glabrous
inside and longitudinally rugose towards the base. Stalk of staminal. disc short, glabrous,
striate, thickenod upwards so as to pass gradually into the triangular, sub-concave,
glabrous disc. Anthers about 20, sessile, spreading, narrowly ovato. Female Jlowcrs
like the males, but with shorter pedicels and broader teeth ; ovary densely woolly;
stigma sub-sessile, concave, with many irregular narrow lobes. Fndt ellipsoid, 2 to 3
in. long, covered with a coating oue-fourth of an inch thick of dense, silky, fulvous
wool; pericarp crustaeeous, -So in. thick; arillus thin, uniform, scarlet, completely
enveloping the cylindric-ovoid seed. Hook. fil. ij- Thorns. Fl. Ind. v. 156; Honk,
fil. Fl. Br. Ind. 109.; Ifiq. FL Ind. Bat. i. pt. 2, p. 69; A. DC. in Frod. xiv. 20i.
Penang, Perak, Malacca and Singapore; not uncommon.
PLATE LLIS. Myristica Hookeriana, Wall. 1, Leaf-twig; 2. cluster of male flowers;
3, ripe fruit; 4, transverse section of same; o, male flowers—o/ natural size; 6, staminal
disc and anthers seen from aho-7%—enlarged; 7, fascicle of female flowers; 8, ovary;
9, the same dissected—o/ natural size ; 10, stigma—«i/ar^fti.
62. MYEISTICA CUBTISII, N. sp. King. A tree; all parts glabrous, except the
minutely puberulous leaf-buds aud male flowers; young branches slender, rather dark
black. Leaves thinly coriaceous, narrowly elliptic-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate to ellipticobovate,
the ape.\ acute or sub-acute, the base acute; when dry the edge slightly
recurved; upper surface pale-greenish when dry, shining; lower dull, whitish, subglaucous;
main nerves 9 to 16 pairs, faint, spreading, evanescent towards the margin;
length 3 to 3-5 in., breadth 1 to 1-6 in.; petiole --i in. Male flowers in umbels of 3 to
10, from short, woody, axillary tubercles; pedicels -35 to -4 in. long; bracteole near
the middle of the pedicel very small, minutely puberulous, as is the outside of the
perianth; buds depressed-obovoid, '15 in, in diam.; teeth of perianth fleshy, concave,
broadly triangular. Staminal disc large, very concave, in some stages with a convexity in
the middle, obtusely 3-covncred, striate beneath, suddenly contracted into the short stalk;
edge of disc quite entire, bearing on its lower surface 40 to 45 small ovate anthers.
Female flowers in few-flowered umbels; perianth not seen; ovary sessile, ovoid, conical,
lomentose; the stigma with 6 radiating, acute teeth. Fndt solitary or in pairs, ellipticovate,
sub-gibbous, 1-35 in. long, -75 in. in diam., keeled at the suture, rusty-puberulous,
pedicel -4 in. long; arillus completely covering the seed, thin, entire or slightly
lobulate at the apex.
Penang; near the Waterfall, Curtis'So. 1024, and at Penara Bukit (1,000 feet) 1301.
Perak; near the Hermitage (elevation 3,000 feet), Ctcrtis No. 1320; Seortechini No. 292;
Thaiping, Wraij No. 2112. Malacca, Maingay {Keto Dislrib. No. 1301).
Of this species Sir J. D. Hooker had seen only Maingay's fruiting specimen
(No. 1301) when he elaborated the genus Myristica for the Flora of Brit. India. But,
in a note to p. 113 of the 5th volume of that work, he gave a partial description of it,
and indicated it as a new species. Maingay in a M3S. note, of which iiir Joseph
Hook«r has most kindly sent me a copy, describes the ripe fruit ss follows:—" Fruit
OP BRITISH I:^DIA.
elliptic-ovoid, the bigger end towards the base, 1 '5 by 1 in., suddenly attenuated into
a thin stipes, minutely fcrruginous-puberulons-pilose, at length sub-glabrous, pale greenishorange.
Seed elliptic, -9 by -6 in.; aril complete, fleshy, blood-red, slightly plicatelobato
at the apex; testa pale buff, membranous; togment crustaeeous." The andrcecium
is remarkable for the number (45) of its anthors.
PLATE 167. Myristica Curtisii, King. 1, Branch with male flowers (from Wray's
Perak specimen No. 2112); 2, branch with young fruit (from Curtis's Perak specimen
No. 1320); 3, ripe fruit from Maingay's specimen No. 1301; 4, seed covered by its
arillus—o/Wíi/ííra/ size; 5, bud of male flower; 6, male flower opened; 7, the same
dismembered; 8, staminal disc with anthers; 9, OTSxy—enlarged.
63. MYRISTICA CASTLEYI, Eook. fil. Fl. Br. Ind. i. 110. A tree 20 to 50 feet
high; young branchlets slender, densely felted with rufous tomentum, afterwards
glabrous and pale brown, rarely dark-coloured. Leaves coriaceous, oblong or linearoblong,
acute, the base rounded or sub-acute; when very young flocculent rufoustomentose,
ultimately quite glabrous on both surfaces; main nerves 16 to 20 pairs,
t h in but prominent and forming intramarginal arches; midrib prominent on both
surfaces; length 9 to 15 in., breadth 2 to 3 in.; petiole about 1 in., at first rufoustomentose,
like the branchlets, but ultimately glabrous. Malo flomrs densely felted,
rufous-tomentose, in many-flowered sessile umbels from the axils of leaves and of
fallen leaves; pedicels -25 to -4 in. long, tomentoso like the perianth, bracteole close
to the flower; buds depressed, obovoid-globose, -25 in. in diam.; lobes of the perianth
broadly triangular, glabrous within; staminal dise orbicular, very convex (mammillate),
papillose; anthers 13 to 15, on short filaments radiating from its edges and dehiscing
downwards. Stalk of disc very short, thick, minutely hairy, not ridged. Female flowers
sessile, in few-flowered clusters; buds ovoid, the bracteole minute, close to the flower;
lobes of perianth triangular, glabrous inside; ovary globular, ovoid, sessile, densely
rufous-tomentose; style short; stigma large, stellate, with about 12 deep narrow lobes.
Fnút ellipsoid, blunt, about 1-25 in. long, -8 in. broad, densely covered with felted
rufous tomentum; the three lobes of the perianth slightly enlarged and persistent at
its base; peduncle thick, -20 in. long; arillus thin, entirely enclosing the narrowly
obovate, pointed seed.
Singapore, Canilcy. Perak: at low elevations common ; King's Collector, Wray.
Allied to M. intermedia, Bl., by its umbonate disc, and not unlike it in leaf dnd
fruit, but much more tomentoso. At once distinguished by the persistent perianth at
the base of the fruit.
PLATE 168. Myristica Cantleyi, Hook. fil. 1, Branch with male flowers; 2, ripe
f r u i t ; 3, seed covered by its arillus—o/ natural size; 4, male flower; 5 & 6, staminal
column and disc with anthers; 7, ovary; 8, stigma seen from ahove—enlarged.
Imperfedhj kmwn species, of which tíie position is uncertain.
64. MYRISTICA EXALTATA. Wall. Cat. 6804 A. ^ B. A tree; young branches
dark-coloured, smooth. Leaves thinly coriaceous, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, acute;
the base slightly cuneate or rounded, both surfaces glabrous, the upper shining, the