Melia azedarach^ 



THE PRIDE OF CHINA. 



Synonymes. 



Melia azedarach, 



Azedarach, 



Zederach, Paternosterbaum, 



Azadarac, Azarac, Azabrack, Zaccheo, 



Sicoinoro falso, Albero de' Paternostri 



di San Domenico, 

 Arbol de Paraiso, Cinamomo, 

 Amargoseira, 

 Zsenzalacht, 

 Dek, 

 Indian Lilac, Persian Lilac, Bead-tree, 



Neem-tree, Hill Blargosa, 

 Pride of China, Pride of India, 



(LiNN^us, Species Plantaruni. 

 De Candolle, Prodromus. 

 MicHADx, North American Sylva. 

 I Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 

 [ ToRKEY AND Gray, Flora of North America. 

 France. 

 Germany. 



> Italy. 



Spain and Spanish America. 



Portugal. 



Arabia. 



Northern Provinces of India. 



Britain. 



United States. 



Derivations. The specific name is derived from the Persian, azad-i-durukht, which signifies the tree of pre-eminence. The 

 German name signifies Palernoster-tree, in allusion to the nuts of this tree being used for rosaries. The Spanish name, Arbol de 

 Paraiso, signifies tree of Paradise. 



Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 102; Audubon, Birds of America, pi. Ixiii. ; Loudon, Arboretum BriUn- 

 nlcum, i. figure 138 j and llie figures below. 



^ecific Characters. Leaves deciduous ; leaflets about 5-together, glabrous, obliquely ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate ; petals (lilac) nearly glabrous. Torrey and Gray, Flora. 



Description. 



W^WMllB Melia azedarach, in 

 'tt' ^ favourable situations, 



^ LI 1^ often attains a height 



S^^^ of thirty or forty feet, 



with a trunk fifteen or twenty inches in diam- 

 eter ; but when standing alone, it usually 

 rests at a smaller elevation, and diffuses itself 

 into a spreading summit, with a stem six or 

 eight feet in circumference. Its leaves are of 

 a dark-green, large, doubly-pinnate, and com- 

 posed of smooth, acuminate, or obliquely-acu- 

 minate, denticulated leaflets. The leaves 

 change colour, and fall, with the slightest 

 cold, almost without frost, which usually 

 takes place in the southern states in Novem- 

 ber or December. When in bloom, it has 

 some resemblance to the lilac. The flowers, 

 which appear in March, April, or May, form 

 beautiful axillary clusters at the extremity of 

 the shoots, and exhale a delicious odour. The fruit is round, or oblong, ot a 

 yellowish colour when ripe, and about the size of a common cherry. The nut, 

 or kernel of the fruit, is of a brownish colour, and is surrounded by a sweetish 

 pulp, which is sought after with avidity by some species of birds, particularly 



