dia spatulate, entire; style hairy at the base.—“ Vent. 1. c. p. 16. t. 15?;
Pursh, ft. 2. p. 63; DC. prodr. 1. p. 513.
Banks of the Ohio and Mississippi, Pursh; near Macon, Georgia, Dr.
Loomis !—Leaves 4-8 inches in diameter, very oblique and more or less cordate,
with a short abrupt acuminafion, somewhat shining above ; the veins
on' the under surface veryconspicuous in contrast with the white pubescence.
Cyme few-flowered, loose. Style longer than the petals.
3. T. alba (Michx.) : leaves glabrous above, whitish-pubescent beneath';
the veins pale; serratures mucronately acuminate; pcftals emarginate; sta-
minodia spatulate, entire ; style nearly glabrous at the hase .^-Michx.f sylv-.
2.p. 237. t. 132. T. laxiflora, PursK, ft. 2. p. 363 ? (not of Michx. ft.)
Woods, particularly along rivers, Pennsylvania to Maryland, and in the
Western States, Michaux, f . Santee River, South Carolina, Dr. Godine'f
—Leaves 3-4 inches in diameter with a short abrupt, acumination, cordate,
somewhat Unequal at the base; the under surface rather thinly pubescent,
very pale, but scarcely white. Staminodia f the length of the.petals. Filaments
slightly pentadelphous.
4. T.pubescens (A it.): leaves of nearly the same color on both surfaces,
nearly glabrous above, pubescent beneath; serratures slightly mucronate; petals
crenulate at the summit; style hairy at the base.—:“ Vent. 1. c. p. 10. t.
3” ; Michx. ft. sylv. 2. p. 239. 1.133; Pursh, ft. 2. p. 363; Ell. sk. 2. p. &
T. laxiflora, Michx. ft. 2. p. 306 ?
p.leptophylla (Vent.); leaves very thin and papyraceous. Vent. 1. c.;:
Pursh, l. c.
Fertile soils, along the sea-coast of Carolina, to Florida! M ich a u x ,/.
Elliott, Baldwin ! Kentucky, S h o r t Texas, Drummond ! June.—A large
tree. Leaves 3-4 inches in diameter, the under surface when young rather
paler than the upper, but at length of nearly the same color; serratures broad
and short.—There is great uncertainty respecting the synonymy of the last
three species, owing to the imperfect manner in which they are described by
most preceding authors. Indeed nearly all the characters which have been
employed for distinguishing them are either inconstant or are common to
them all. A careful examination of the flowers in the living plants may afford
more certain marks of discrimination.
Or d e r X L . MELIACEvE. Juss.
Sepals 3 -5 , distinct or more or less united, imbricated in aestivation.
Petals hypogynous, as many as, and longer than the sepals, alternate
with them, often connivent o r ' Cohering at the base with each'
other or with the stamen-tube: aestivation valvate or imbricated.
Stamens usually twice the number o f the petals : filaments united into
a tube, inserted outside the hypogynous often discoid torus : anthers
sessile within the orifice o f the tube. Ovary with usually the same
number o f cells as petals, each cell containing 1 -2 ovules : styles and
stigmas commonly united into one. Fruit drupaceous, baccate, or
capsular, with as many cells as stigmas, or by abortion 1-celled ;
when dehiscent, loculicidal. Seeds mostly anatropous, sometimes aril-
led, never winged or f la t: albumen thin and fleshy, or none.—Trees or'
shrubs. Leaves alternate, without stipules, simple or compound..
1. MELIA. L in n .; Lam. ill. t. 372.
Calyx small: sepals 5, united below. Petals oblong, spreading. Stamen-
tube 10-cleft at the apex, with 10 anthers in the throat; the segments 2-3-
parted. Ovary seated on a short disk, 5-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell,
one above the other. Style columnar, breaking off from the top of the ovary
: stigma 5-lobed. Drupe ovate, with a 5-celled bony nut; cells 1-seeded.
Embryo enclosed within a thin fleshy albumen: cotyledons foliaceous.—
Trees, with bipinnate leaves: leaflets toothed. Flowers in axillary panicles.
1. M. Azedarach (Linn.) : leaves deciduous; leaflets about 5 together,
glabrous, obliquely ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; petals (lilac) nearly glabrous.—
Lam. 1. c.; Cav. diss. 7. p. 363, t. 207; Ell. sk. 1. p. 475; Ad.
Juss. Meliac. in mem. mus. 19. t. 13; Audubon, birds o f Amer. t. 62.
Naturalized in the Southern States! Introduced from Asia. April.—
Trunk 20-40 feet high, often 3 feet in diameter. Leaves deciduous late in
autumn.T—Bark of the root anthelmintic and somewhat narcotic. Ell.—Dr.
James found this tree on the Canadian, where he thinks it to be a native.—
Pride-of-India.
Or d e r X L I. C E D R E L A C E iE . R . B r .
Sepals 4 -5 , distinct or united. Petals as many as the sepals and
alternate with them, distinct, sometimes unguiculate : aestivation twisted
or convolute. Stamens twice the number o f the petals ; those opposite
the petals shorter and sometimes sterile or deficient: filaments
either broad and flat and united into a tube, or subulate and distinct,
inserted with the petals on the hypogynous d isk : anthers introrse, at
length versatile. Ovary with as many cells as petals (rarely with fewer),
supported or surrounded by the discoid torus, with several ovules
in each c e ll: styles and stigmas united into one ; the latter usually
broad and discoid, 3-5-angled or lobed. Fruit a woody 3-5-celled,.
3-5-valved capsule, with septicidal dehiscence ; the valves separating
from the dissepiments, which remain attached to the thick axis. Seeds
anatropous, many or few in each cell, imbricated in 2 rows near the
inner angle, flat and winged, not arilled: albumen thin and fleshy or
none. Embryo with large foliaceous cotyledons, and a very small radicle.—
Trees, with very hard and durable, usually fragrant and resinous
wood. Leaves alternate, pinnate, exstipulate. Flowers in terminal
panicles, perfect, or diclinous by the abortion o f the anthers or
ovary.
1. SWIETENIA. L in n .; Ad. Juss. in. mem. mus. 19. p. 249, t. 11.
Calyx short, obtusely 5-cleft. Petals 5, reflexed. Filaments 10, united
into a subcampanulate 10-toothed tube: anthers included in the tube, alternate
with the teeth, attached by the middle, apiculate. Style short; stigma