TEREBINTIlACE^Ii. 229 



Spondjas dulcis, a native of the Mauritius and the Socie- 

 ty Islands, has been introduced, and at present grows in the 

 Botanic Garden at 13ath. 



VII. BURSERA, 



Flowers polygamous. Calyx small, 3-5-partite, 

 with the lobes obtuse. Petals 3-5, during estivation 

 valvular. Stamens 6-8. Disk annular, subocto- 

 crenated. Ovary ovate, o-celled : style short, o-fid 

 at the apex. Drupe oblong, 3-stoned, with tlie husk 

 succulent, 3-valved ; 2 of the stones abortive, and 1 

 fertile, fleshy, 2-ovuled, 1 -seeded. Seed pendulous, 

 exalbuminous ; cotyledons leafy corrugato-plicate ; 

 radicle straight, superior. — De Cand. 



American balsam-bearing trees : leaves impari-pinnate, or 

 simple from the odd leaflet only being present. — Named, after 

 Joachim Burser, Professor of Botany at Sara, in Naples. 



1. Bursera gummifera. TVest-Indian Bircli-tree. 



Leaves deciduous generally impari-pinnate, leaflets 

 ovate acute membranaceous, racemes axillary. 



Terebinthus major betulse cortice, frnctu triangulari, Sloane, 

 t. 199. — Terebinthus foliis cordato-ovatis pinnatis, cortice Isevi 



rufescente, floribus masculis spicatis, Browne, 345 Bursera 



gummifera, Jacq. Ame?: 94. t. 65. — Swartz, Obs. 130. 



HAB. Common in the plains. 



FL. March, April, with the new leaves. 



A tree, usually of moderate height, with the bark of a reddish 

 colour, and the epidermis scaling off. Leaves impari-pinnate : 

 leaflets 3-4-paired, petiolulated, ovato-oblong, acuminate, en- 

 tire, glabrous, shining above, nerved and veined : common pe- 

 tioles, villous when the leaves are young, angulated, subarticu- 

 lated at the insertion of the leaflets. The flowers make their 

 appearance with the young leaves in Spring, small, not showy. 

 $ Raceme subterminal, axillary, shorter than the common 

 petiole, several togethex*, compound, many-flowered : common 

 peduncle terete, thickish, villous : pedicels filiform, several to- 

 gether. Calyx minute, 5-partite. Petals 5, lanceolate, reflected. 

 Stamens 5, 8, or 10, of nearly the same length as the petals; 

 anthers yellow, linear. Ovary : style 3-fid, caducous, or 0. 

 ^ Raceme as in the male, but the flowers are less numerous. 

 Calyx minute 3-partite. Petals 3, ovate, acute, patent, decidu- 

 ous. Stamens (3. Ovary ovate ; style short, thick, 3-fid : 

 stigmata simple. Drupe sub-3lobate, 3-celled, 3-valved : only 



