166 THALAMIFLORvli. 



The figure of Sloane is incorrect as regards the leaf; and the 

 pedicels are too long. 



The leaves are not strictly viscid, but rather as if they had 

 been smeared with a solution of Isinglass or Mucilage, and then 

 allowed to dry. 



ORDER XLIV. MELIACE^. 



Calycine sepals 4-5, more or less united to form a 

 monopliyllous calyx. Petals of the same number as, 

 and alternating with the sepals, with the claw broad, 

 frequently connivent or united ; aestivation valvular. 

 Stamens usually twice the number of the petals, 

 rarely equal, or of a greater number: filaments 

 united to form a tube, bearing the anthers sessile on 

 the summit. Ovary single, supported upon an annu- 

 lar disk : style 1 : stigmata more or less deeply divid- 

 ed into 4 or 5 lobes. Fruit berried, drupaceous or 

 capsular, many-celled, frequently 1 -celled from abor- 

 tion ; with the valves, when they are present, septi- 

 ferous. Seeds albuminose or exalbuminose, with the 

 dicotyledonous embryo varying in shape. 



Trees or shrub, with leaves alternate, exstipulated, simple or 

 compound, natives of Tropical countries. They are all more 

 or less bitter to the taste, and many of the species prove tonic 

 and febrifuge when administered internally. 



I. Melia. 



Calyx small, 5-fid. Petals 5, oblongo-linear, patent. 

 Stamens 10, the filaments united into a tube, at the 

 apex 20-toothed, antheriferous internally round the 

 throat. Ovary sitting on a subelevated torus : style 

 filiform : stigma capitate, 5-angular. Drupe ovate ; 

 nut 5-sulcate, 5-locular, with the locules one-seeded : 

 albumen fleshy : cotyledons plane, leafy : radicle 

 superior. — De Cand. 



Trees with the leaves impari-pinnate or bipinnate. — Named, 



