Sioietenia mahogotii, 

 THE MAHOGANY-TREE. 



Synonymes. 



Srvietenia mdhogoni, 



Acajou, Mahagon, 



Mahagonyholz, Mahagonybaum, 



Albero di acajou, 



Caoba, 



Pao magno, 



Mahogany-tree, 



LiNN^us, Species Plantarum. 



WooDviLLE, Medical Botany. 



ToRREY AND Gray, Flora of North America. 



France. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



Spain and Spanish America. 



loRTDGAL AND BrAZIL. 



Britain and Anglo- America. 



Derivation. The specific name, mahogoni, \s derived from the Arrowauk Indian name of this tree, which is variously 

 WTitten, aa mahogany, mahagon, mahagony, and mahony. 



Engravings. Catesby, Natural History of Carolina, pi. 81 ; "Woodville and Hooker, Medical Botany, pi. 220 ; and the figures 

 below. 



Specific Characters. Leaves pinnate iu 4 pairs. Leaflets ovate lanceolate, equal at the base. Panicles 

 axillary. 



Description. 



^HE Swietenia mahog- 

 'Mi h H l^ oni is one of the most 

 ^ LI ^ beautiful among inter- 



^^^^^ tropical trees. Its trunk 



is often forty feet in height, and six feet in diam- 

 eter ; and it divides into so many massy arms, 

 and throws the shade of its glossy foliage over so 

 great an extent of surface, that few more magnifi- 

 cent objects are to be met with in the vegetable 

 world. Its summit is wide and spreading, sub- 

 evergreen, and adorned with abruptly-pinnate, 

 shining leaves. The flowers, which are produced 

 in handsome spikes not unlike those of the lilac, 

 are whitish, sometimes reddish or safl'ron colour, 

 and are succeeded by fruit or capsules of an oval 

 form, about the size of a turkey's egg. The fruit 

 ripens in early summer, bursts into five parts, 

 and discloses its winged seeds, which are soon after dispersed by the winds ; 

 some, falling into the crevices of rocks, strike root, then creeping out on the sur- 

 face, seek other chinks or crevices, re-enter, and swell to such a size and strength, 

 that at length, the rocks are forced asunder, to admit the deeper penetration of 

 the roots, and in this manner, in process of time, increase to large trees. 



Geography and History. The mahogany is a native of the warmest parts of 

 America, and grows plentifully in Cuba, Jamaica, and Hayti or St. Domingo. 

 There arc also many trees found on other West India Islands, on the Bahamas, 

 and in South Florida. It was formerly very abundant in Jamaica, but the best 

 trees are mostly cut down in all accessible situations ; and the same thing holds 

 good in the other islands. The principal importations into Europe and the 

 United States are made from Brazil, Campeachy, and Honduras. That which 

 is brought from the islands is usually called Spanish mahogany, but it is not 



