Rutacee.] THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. ‘155 
peared from Egypt. M. Delile supposes that Balanites 4gyptiaca is the tree :—there 
is no doubt that in some points it does agree ; but the fruit of Persea, though astringent 
before ripening, is described .as being afterwards sweet, and good to eat, though not 
very agreeable. Of the fruit of the Balanites, M. Delile himself says, “ils etoient 
astringens et fermes avant leur maturité: j’en gardai quelques uns, qui se ramolloient et 
prirent une saveur douce que je ne trouvai point agréable ;” and it is difficult to suppose 
how they could ever become so; as Dr. Roxburgh describes ‘‘ the pulp as exceedingly 
bitter, having an offensive greasy smell.” I never met with it except inits unripe state ; 
and the only use to which it was applied, is that alluded to by Dr. R. as a firework; the 
nut being scooped out, by a hole made at one end, is filled with gunpowder, which, 
when let off, makes a loud report, on account of the denseness and tenacity of the shell. 
A recent author supposes that this plant produces the myrrh, but for this opinion there 
does not appear to be any foundation. 
. 
48. RUTACEZ. 
This family, in Professor De Candolle’s Prodromus, includes the Rutee and Diosmee 
of M. Adrien de Jussieu. The former, called Rutacee by Dr. Lindley, contains, with 
some others, the genera Ruta, Peganum, and Cyminosma. Peganum is placed here 
by M. Ad. de Jussieu, although, as observed by Dr. Lindley, ‘‘ its stipulate leaves, 
destitute of pellucid dots, appear to determine its greatest affinity to be with Zygo- 
phyllee.”” P. Harmala, the only species of the genus found in the south of Europe 
and in the Syrian region, also occurs in several parts of India. It has been brought 
me from between Shahpoor and Bussoulee, on the banks of the Ravee or Hydraotes ; 
it was seen by Dr.Wallich in the Taj Muhul garden at Agra, at which place I have 
also found it, but near the banks of the river; and it is included in the Flora of the 
Peninsula. Lahoree hoormul, the name by which the seed still used in medicine 
is now known in Northern India, indicates its probable introduction from the northward. 
In the Mukhzun-ool-Udwieh, moolee or moly is given as the Yoonanee or Greek name, 
evidently the poh of Dioscorides, who also mentions that by some it is called harmala, 
—a striking instance of the permanence of some at least of the Asiatic names. 
Ruta albiflora, figured by Dr. Hooker, Ex. Fi. t. 79, is common in the Himalayas, at 
elevations of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet, having been found in Nepal and Kemaon by 
Dr.Wallich, and by myself in Gurhwal. Another species, R. angustifolia, Pers., or a 
variety of Ruta Chalepensis, Lin., called Sudab, may be met with in gardens; also 
introduced on account of its uses in medicine, as the Greek name is said to be fekhun, 
or ufghanin, evidently a corruption of eye, owing to the want of the letter P in the 
Arabic alphabet. The rest of the species of this genus are found, like the Zygophyllee, 
in the southern parts of Europe, the north of Africa, and the Syrian region, as well as 
in China and Japan. Cyminosma, which is common to the southern parts of India, 
China, and Cochin-China, forms, with the above and Aplophyllum (a genus including 
x 2 the 
