RUTALES.] 



AMYRIDACE/E. 



459 



Order CLXXI. AMYRIDACEjE.— Amyrids. 



Terebiutacea?, Juss. Gen. 368. (1789) in part; tribes 4 4-5. DC. Prodr. 2. 81. (1825).— AmjTidetc, 

 R. Brown in Congo, -^21. (1818); Kunthin Ann. Sc. Nat. 2.353. (1824).— AmjTidacese, Ed. pr. 

 cwiii.; Prodr. 2. 81. (1825).— Burseracese, Kunth in Ann. Sc. Nat. 2. 333. (1824); End!. Gen. 

 ccxlvi.; Meisner, Gen. p. 77.—? Balanitese, Endl. Ench. p. 547. (1841). 



Diagnosis. — Rittal Exogem, with consolidated^ hard, dj-y, and sonieivhat valvular fruit, 

 valvate petals, free stamens, and generally dotted leaves. 



Trees or slirubs, abounding in balsam or resin. Leaves alternate or opposite, ternate 

 or unequally pinnate, occasionally with stipules, and pellucid dots. Flowers axillary or 

 terminal, in racemes or panicles, sometimes unisexual 

 by abortion. Calyx persistent, somewhat regular, Anth 

 from 2 to 5 divisions. Petals 3-5, inserted below a 

 disk arising from the calyx ; aestivation usually valvate, 

 sometimes imbricated. Stamens twice as many as the 

 petals, all fertile. Disk orbicular or annular. Ovary 

 1- 5-celled, superior, sessile in or upon the disk ; style 

 sohtary and compound; stigmas as many as the cells 

 of the ovary, and where there is but one cell capitate ; 

 ovules in pairs, attached to the apex of the cell, anatro- 

 pal, collateral. Finiit hard and dry, 1- 5-celled, with its 

 outer part often spUtting into valves. Seeds ^\^thout 

 albumen ; cotyledons either wTinkled and plaited, or 

 amygdaloid ; radicle superior, straight, tiUTied towards 

 the hilum. 



These are plants \\dth the appearance of Oranges, and 

 in the instance of Amyris itself, with the dotted leaves 

 of that Order ; nor have they any positive mark of dis- 

 tinction, except their fruit forming a shell whose husk 

 eventually splits mto valve-hke segments. In general, 

 however, the petals have a valvate sestivation ; and 

 AmjT.'is, which wants that character, has only a one- 

 celled ovary. The genera collected under this name 

 are by no means perfectly known, and demand a scru- 

 pulous revision. Copaifera and Myrospermiun, placed 

 here in the last edition of this work, belong to the 

 Leguminous Order. In referring the genus Balanites 

 hither, I do so wdthout haxing had the opportunity of 

 examming its fruit, the seeds of wMch are said to be albuminous. Its 

 calyx is certainly not valvate, as it has been described to be, but is truly 

 imbricated. 



What species have as yet been ascertained are exclusively natives of 

 tropical India, Africa, and America. 



It is here that we find the trees yieldmg myrrh and frankincense, 

 besides which the species have all an abun- 

 dance of fragrant resinous juice. The 

 resin of Boswellia is used in India as 

 fi'ankmcense, and also as pitch. It is hard 

 and brittle, and, according to Roxbm'gh, 

 is boiled with some low-priced oil to ren- 

 der it soft and fit for use. The native 

 doctors prescribe it, mixed with ghee 

 (clarified butter), in cases of gonon*hoea, 

 and also in what they call Ritta Kaddapoo, 



which signifies flux accompanied with blood. The wood is heavy, hard, and durable. 

 Boswellia serrata, called Libanus thurifera by Colebrooke, produces the gum-resin 

 Olibanum, a substance chiefly used as a grateful incense, but which also possesses sti- 

 mulant, astringent, and diaphoretic properties. Arabian frankincense has also been 

 said to be the produce of the same tree, but this is very uncertain. Myn-h, or Hobali, 



Fig. CCCXX.— Marignia ohtnsifohn.—Dekssert. 1. a flower ; 2. the same divided vertically; 3. a 

 fruit ; 4. a section of the same. 

 Fig. CC'CXXI.— Embryo of Elaphrium excelsum.— Tm?7>8)). 



f&r^ 



Fig. CCCXXI. 



Fig. CCCXX. 



