121 



often, in consequence of abortion, 1-celled, the valves, if present, having the dissepiments 

 in their middle. Seeds without albumen, not winged ; embryo inverted. — Trees or shrubs. 

 Leaves alternate, without stipulcB, simple or compound. 



Affinities. This order is not well understood. It is apparently 

 akin to Sapindacese, with which it agrees in habit, but from which it is 

 distinguished by its stamens and symmetrical flowers. To Cedreleae it is 

 most closely allied, and therefore connected with Rutaceae through Flin- 

 dersia. Humiriaceae are principally distinguished by their highly developed 

 connectivum and partially united stamens. Styraceae are very nearly akin 

 to Meliaceae, but they are monopetalous. 



Geography. Found principally in the hotter parts of the East and 

 West Indies, South America, and Africa. The common Bead-tree, Melia 

 Azedarach, has the most northern position, in Syria. 



Properties. The false Winter's Bark, a good tonic and stimulant, 

 not much known, is yielded by Canella alba; it is aromatic, and used as 

 a condiment in the West Indies. The bark of Guarea Trichilioides is, ac- 

 cording to Aublet, purgative and emetic. The root of Melia Azedarach 

 is bitter and nauseous, and is used in North America as anthelmintic; 

 the pulp that surrounds the seeds is said to be deleterious ; but this is 

 denied by M. Turpin, who asserts that dogs which he has seen eat it 

 experienced no inconvenience ; and children in Carolina eat them with 

 impunity. Ach. R. It is supposed that the Melia Azedarachta, or Neem- 

 tree of India, possesses febrifuge properties. See Trans, of the M. and 

 Ph. Soc. of Calcutta, 3. 430. A kind of Toddy, which the Hindoo doc- 

 tors consider a stomachic, is obtained by tapping this, which is also called 

 the Margosa-tree. Ainslie, 1. 453. From the fruit of the same plant an 

 oil is obtained, which is fit for burning and for other domestic purposes, 

 and, as Ach. Richard well observes (Bot. Med. 708.), is another instance, 

 after the Olive, of the pericarp yielding that substance which is usually 

 obtained from the seed. This oil is said to possess antispasmodic qualities. 

 Dec. A warm pleasant-smelling oil is prepared from the fruit of Trichilia 

 speciosa, which the Indian doctors consider a valuable external remedy in 

 chronic rheumatism and paralytic affections. Ainslie, 2. 71. Some deli- 

 cious fruits of the Indian archipelago, called Langsat, or Lanseh, and 

 Ayer Ayer, are species of the genus Lansium ; they have a watery pulp, 

 with a cooling pleasant taste. Milnea edulis is another plant of the order, 

 with eatable fruit. 



M. DecandoUe has the following sections (Prodi'. 1. 619.) : — 



1. Melie^. 

 Cotyledons flat and leafy. 

 Examples. Melia, Turrsea. 



2. TrichiliejE. 

 Cotyledons very thick. 

 Examples. Ekebergia, Guarea. 



CVI. CEDRELEtE. 



Cedrele^, Brown in. Flinders, G4. (1814) Meliack^e, § Cedreleae, Dec, Prodr. 



1. 624. (1824.) 



Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous sta- 

 mens combined in a tube, concrete carpella, an ovarium of several cells 



