328 MELIACE^. [part ii. 



soap in those countries of which it is a native. 

 The nuts of this plant are round and hard, and 

 of such a shining black that they are made 

 into buttons and beads by the inhabitants of 

 Spanish America. The whole plant, if thrown 

 into ponds containing fish, will intoxicate, and 

 sometimes kill them. Another interesting plant 

 belono^ino^ to this order is the Chinese fruit 

 called Litchi {Euphoria or Neplieliwn Litchi) ; 

 which has its sweet eatable pulp enclosed in a 

 kind of nut, much wrinkled on the outside ; so 

 that the fruit lies within the stone, instead of 

 being on the outside of it. These hard, stone- 

 Hke berries grow in loose racemes. 



ORDER XLVIII.— MELIACEiE.— THE BEAD-TREE 

 TRIBE. 



Melia Azederach^ the Pride of India, or Indian 

 Lilac, or Bead-tree, for it is known by all these 

 names, is a native of Syria, which has become 

 almost naturalised in the South of Europe, 

 particularly near the Mediterranean. The 

 leaves are bi-pinnate, the flowers are violet- 

 coloured, and the fruit, which resembles that of 

 the cherry, is of a pale yellow when ripe. The 

 pulp is poisonous, and the stones are used for 

 making rosaries in the Roman Catholic countries. 



