498. A Selection of Flowers. Wild and Cultivated, with Puzzle Nut, Mahe.

Crimson Russelia ]uncea, Zuce., from Mexico, on the right, then whitish Moringa pterygosperma, Gaertn., or Horse-radish Tree of tropical countries, and a yellow-brown Stoplzanthus (from Madagascar), below the last the pink flowers and open seed vessels of a Tecoma? and a white Ipomoea, in the centre, Cerbera Tanghin, Hook., with Latgerstroemnia induce, Linn., on the right, and Clerodendron Thomsonae, Balf. (Africa) in fruit. In front of the vase a small flowering branch and a ripe seed-vessel, burst open of the "Puzzle Nut" (Carapa moluccensis, Lam.). This is a common tree on the muddy shores of tropical Asia, Eastern Africa, Australia, the Mascarene Islands, and Polynesia. The seed-vessel is sometimes as large as a child's head, and is packed full of seeds most unequal in size and most irregular in shape, insomuch that if once taken out it is very difficult to fit them in again. Moreover, they are covered with a very thick fibrous testa, which renders them very buoyant and impervious to water, consequently, they are carried uninjured from shore to shore by oceanic currents, hence the wide distribution of the species.