380 XXXI. MELiACE^. [Tiirma. 



I 



The species appears to be generally dispersed over the Indian Archipelago ; the lobes of i 



the teeth of the staminal tube, upon which the distinction of T. piibescetis, T, Billardient 

 and 21 coticinna is chiefly fouadedj are very variable, even on the same specimen. 



3. MELIA, Linn. 



Calyx 5- or 6-cleft. Petals 5 or 6, linear-spathulate, spreading. Staminal 

 tube 10- or Ig-tootlied j anthers 10 or 12, within the summit. Disk annular. 

 Ovary 3- to 6-celIed; style slender, with a capitate lobed stigma; ovules 2 

 in each cell, superposed. Drupe succulent, with a bony 1- to 5-celled puta- 

 nien. Seeds solitary in each cell; testa crustaceous; albumen fleshy, some- 

 times scanty or none, cotyledons leaf-like. — Trees. Leaves usually twice or 

 thrice pinnate, with petiolulate toothed leaflets. ¥lovvevs paniculate. 



The genus coraprises but very few species, natives of tropical Asia, one of them generally 

 planted in many parts of the globe. The Australian species is one of the Asiatic ones. 



1. M. composita^ Willd.; JF, and Am. Prod. 117. An elegant tree, 

 the young leaves, shoots^ and inflorescence sprinkled with a mealy stellate 

 tomentura which disappears with age. Leaves twice or rarely thrice pinnate; 

 leaflets petiohdate, opposite with a terminal odd one, ovate to almost lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate, 1 to 2 in. long, entire, coarsely toothed or sometimes 

 lobed. Panicles loose, shorter than the leaves, retaining the mealy tomentura 

 late, especially on the calyx and petals. Sepals small, ovate. Petals 4 to 5 

 lines long. Staminal tube hirsute inside behind the anthers, the teeth alter- 

 nately entire and 2 -cleft ; anthers glabrous or slightly hirsute. Ovary 5-celled, 

 Drupe ovoid, | to -f in. long. — M, andralasica, A. Juss. in Mem. Mus. Par. 

 xix. 257. 



•oton 



. Australia. Albert river, Ilcnnc. 



Queensland, Burdeliin river, F. Mueller; Broad Sound, R. B 

 ThozeL 



K. S, "Wales. Macleay, Hastings, and Clarence rivers, Beckler ; Newcastle, Lelch- 

 hardt, a 



The Australian tree appears to me identical with the M, composita of East India and the 

 Archipelago, and scarcely diffej-s from the more common M. Azedarach, except in the more 

 abundant mealy tomeutum, especially on the inflorescence and flowers. The drupe is also 

 usually larger and more ovoid. 



8. DYSOXYLON, Elume. 



(Hartighsea, A. Juss) 



Calyx small, 4- or 5-tootlietl, or divided into 4 or s' sepals. Petals 4 or 5, 

 free or adnate to the staminal tube, spreading at the top. Staminal tube 

 truncate or 8- or 10-toothedi anthers 8 or 10, within the summit. Disk 

 tubular, as long as or usually nmch longer than the ovary. Ovary 3- to 

 5-celled; style elongated ; stigma disk-like; ovules 2 in each cell, or rarely 

 solitary. Capsule globular or pear-shaped, 1- to 5-celled, opening locuUcidally 

 m 2 to 5 thickly coriaceous valves. Seeds with or nirely without an arillus, 

 oblong, with a broad ventral hilum ; testa coriaceous ; albumen none ; coty- 

 ledons large.— Trees, often foetid. Leaves pinnate, leaflets opposite or al- 

 ternate in the same species, entire, often oblioue. Panicles axillary, loose, 

 but often small, llowers not very small. 



