Genus ME LI A, Linn. 



Meliaceae. 

 Syst. Nat. 



Decandria Monogynia. 



Syal. Lin. 



Dtritation. The word Melia is derived from the Greek meli, honey, and is the name in that language for the manna ash, 

 which one species of this geniis is thought to resemble. 



Generic Characters. 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. Ovarj' 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. Leaf- 

 lets toothed. Flowers in axillary panicles. Torrey and Gray, Flora. 



^HE species of the genus Melia are few, and mostly natives of Per- 

 sia, India, and Japan. The half-hardy kinds are all deciduous 

 trees, without visible buds, and appear to be peculiarly eligible 

 for growing in the southern states of Europe and America, or for 

 traming against conservatory walls in the more northern parts 

 of these countries. The species most worthy of culture, besides 

 the Azedarach, are the Melia australis, a native of New Holland, and is said to 

 grow to the height of twenty feet; the Melia japonica. indigenous to Japan, and 

 growing to the height of thirty feet; and the Melia buckayun,of Nepal. A tree 

 described by some, under the name of Melia sempervireris, or Ever-green Melia, 

 and known in the West Indies by the name of Indian Lilac, is said to grow 

 sometimes to a height of twenty or thirty feet ; but others consider it as only a 

 variety of the Melia azedarach. 



