TEREBINTHACEiE. 227 



3-sulcate above, pubescent. Peduncles making their appecir- 

 ance in the axils of the leaves of the former year which have 

 dropt off, subsolitary, not an inch in length, subsimple : flowers 

 many, tinged with red ; on pedicels 2 lines in length, terete, 

 puberulous, furnished at their insertion with 3 ovate scale-like 

 bracteoles (the middle one the largest). Minute pellucid glo- 

 bules on the peduncle and pedicels. Calyx small, 5-fid ; divi- 

 sions bluntish, minutely ciliated. Petals 5, much longer than 

 the calyx, oblong, acute, tinged with red towards the apex. 

 Stamens 10, inserted on a 10-crenulated disk; filaments erect, 

 subulate : anthers small, yellow. Ovary green, 5 (or fewer 

 by abortion) -pointed at the apex. Drupe oval, size of the 

 common Hog-plum, yellow with an orange tinge. 



The leaves of this species are shed about the month of Feb- 

 ruary, leaving the tree naked. After some weeks the flowers 

 make their appearance, and, as the fruit forms, they are suc- 

 ceeded by the young leaves. The fruit ripens about the month 

 of July. It is of a sweet taste, with more astringency than 

 that of the S. purpurea. It is very subject to worms, from 

 insects depositing their ova in its pulp, as soon as it begins to 

 ripen. Hence, it must be collected before it is half ripe, in 

 order to eat it free from maggots. Were it not for this, it 

 would be in some esteem as a fruit, as it is very palatable. This 

 tree has a great resemblance in the mode of growth, and in the 

 appearance of the leaves, to the following species. 



2. Spondias purpurea. Leather-coat or Red 

 Spanish-Plum. 



Leaves Imparl -pinnate, leaflets 8-10-pairecl lanceo- 

 late acuminate at both ends serrated towards the apex, 

 petiole sub-3-gonal, racemes short. 



Myrobalanus minor fructu purpureo, Sloane, II. 126. t. 219. 

 f. 3, 4, 5. — Spondias diffusa, floribus praecocibus, Broione, 228. 

 — S. Mombin, Gcertn. Fruct. II. 102. t. 104. — S. Myrobalanus, 

 Jacq. Amer. 139. t. 88. 



HAB. Common in the plains. 



FL. April. 



A tree, 10-15 feet in height, of irregular growth. Leaves 

 impari-pinnated : leaflets subopposite, petiolulated, lanceolate, 

 acute, acuminate at the base, unequilateral, serrated towards, the 

 apex, subentire towards the base, glabrous, obscurely pellucido- 

 punctulated, nerved : petiole sub-3-gonal, 3-sulcate above, with 

 the ridges as well as the petiolules puberulous. Racemes in 

 the axilliB of the leaves of the former year, scarcely more than 

 an inch in length, subsolitary, subsimple. Calycine segments 

 5, minute, coloured. Petals 5, oblong, incurved at the apex. 

 Stamens 10, unequal in length (the 5 which alternate with the 



