CIII.—AZlMACEiE.
This small order, consisting of a single genus, was first defined as such by the late
Mr. George Gardner and myself in the Calcutta Journal of Natural History for April 1845.
At that time we considered it amply distinct from Oleacece. A more intimate acquaintance with
that order, especially the section Chionanthece, leads me to doubt whether indeed it ought to
be retained as a distinct order, a doubt which is strengthened by the discovery of a tetrandrous
Oleacea in Miers’ new genus Tesserandra. With that genus I am not acquainted, not even
with the character, but as Lindley adopts it in his Vegetable Kingdom, I have no doubt of
its being correctly referred to that order.
Character of the Order. Flowers dioicous. Male. Calyx urceolate, 4-cleft. ^ Petals
4, hypogynous, equal, aestivation valvate. Stamens 4, hypogynous; anthers 2-celled, introrse,
dehiscing longitudinally, connective shortly produced, apiculate. Ovary abortive, conical.
Female. Calyx irregularly 2-4-cleft. Corolla as in the male, stamens rudimentary. Ovary
hypogynous, turgid, 2-celled, with a single ovule in each cell. Style none; stigma sessile,
peltate, somewhat 2-lobed. Fruit a globose berry, 2-celled or rarely, by abortion, 1-celled ;
cells one-seeded. Seeds erect, plano-convex ; testa coriaceous, rugose ; albumen none._ Embryo
lenticular; cotyledons fleshy, cordato-auriculate at the base; radicle inferior.—A rambling
shrub with opposite leaves ; from the axils of each of which spring two long, divaricate, pungent
prickles. Flowers small, axillary, sessile, solitary or aggregated. Fruit a soft, white, very
juicy berry.
Af f in it ie s . When establishing this order, Mr. Gardner and I expressed our belief that
it was intermediate between Oleacece and Jasminece, but sufficiently distinct from both, considering
it essentially distinct from Oleacece by its erect not pendulous ovules, and exalbuminous
seed (characters to which I now attach less value than I did then) ; and as agreeing with
Jasminece fn the ovary and baccate fruit, but differing in the floral envelopes. I now view it
as very nearly akin to Chionanthece, in fact as almost referable to that group, the points of
distinction, so far as I can see, scarcely attaining ordinal value. Lindley places it among the
Ilicinece without any doubt, a distribution which its erect ovules and exalbuminous seed prevents
my adopting. Others have placed it in Jpocynece, and D. C. suggests, that it may belong
to Loganiacece which I view as being about equally remote from its real affinities, but both
tending to confirm the propriety of its present location; while the existence of a tetrandrous
genus ( Tesserandra) in Oleacece seems to justify the remark that it is not sufficiently distinct
from that order. M. Bojer of the Mauritius also suggests its affinity with Loganiacece.
Geographical D istribution. India and the Cape of Good Hope are the only countries
in which A%ima has yet been met with. In India it is most abundant and widely distributed
over the peninsula, but I am unable to say how far north it extends. Wallich refers to a
species from Burmah; and Harvey characterizes the genus from Cape specimens.
P roperties and U ses. Little seems known under this head. The leaves when bruised
have a peculiar, heavy, disagreeable, musky smell, and the juice is by the natives prescribed as
an expectorant in cases of Cough, Consumption, and Humoral Asthma, but as it is always
conjoined with many other things, it is impossible to say to what extent the benefit derived,
if any, is due to its curative action. The powder of the roots is also occasionally similarly
employed.
R emarks on Genera and Species. In an order consisting of one genus, and two or
three species, there is little room for remarks under this head, I shall therefore content myself
with one or two passing remarks on the name we have adopted for the order. ^ Lamack first
named and published the plant on which it is founded in 1783 in the Encyclopedia Methodique,
a large and costly work, and of course likely to be in few hands. In 1784 L’Heritier repub