2. Fijian India-rubber.—

In the last Kew Report (pp. 31, 32) reference was made to two plants from Fiji which were said to produce rubber. One of these was identified with certainty as Alstonia plumosa. The other was referred with doubt to Tabernæmontana pacifica.

From ampler materials collected by Mr. Horne, the Director of the Botanic Garden, Mauritius, during his visit to Fiji, it appears that the plant described by Seeman under the latter name is probably not really itself distinct from Alstonia plumosa, and it is therefore not improbable that both the caoutchouc-yielding plants in Fiji belong to this species.

Two other species of Alstonia also yield caoutchouc. One of these is A. scholaris (see Journ. Soc. Arts, 1864, p. 30), which is widely distributed through the tropics of the old world. The other is A. costulata, a native of the Malayan archipelago, which is described by Maingay as "abounding in pure caoutchouc."