NAT. ORDER. 



MyristicacecB. 



MYRISTICA MOSCHATA. NUTMEG TREE. 



Class XXII. DicEciA. Order XUI. Monadelphia. 



Gen. Char. Male — Calyx, bell-shaped, trifid. Corolla, none. Fila- 

 ment, columnar. Anthers, six or ten, united. Female — Calyx, 

 trifid, bell-shaped, deciduous. Corolla, none. Style, none. 

 Stigma, two. Drupe, a nut involved in an arillus. Mace, with 

 one seed. 



Spe. Char. Leaves, oblong, pointed. Fruit, smooth. 



This tree rises about thirty feet in height, and produces numer- 

 ous branches ; the trunk is covered with a dark brown bark, but 

 that on the branches has a more greenish appearance ; the leaves 

 are eliptical, pointed, indulated, entire, obliquely nerved, and placed 

 alternately on short footstalks, the color of which is a bright green 

 on the upper surface, and grayish beneath, having an aromatic 

 taste ; the Jlowers are small and placed on axillary peduncles ; the 

 male and female are on separate trees ; in the ?7iale flowers, the Jil- 

 aments are short, joined into one bundle, supporting long linear 

 anthers, and inserted into the receptacle; in the female the germen 

 is superior, oval, covered with a style, which is terminated by two 

 stigmas ; the calyx of the male and female is bell-shajied, and divi- 

 ded at the brim into three small teeth ; the fruit is an oval berry, 

 with a fleshy tough covering, which opens and displays the mace, 

 closely investing the shell of the nutmeg. 



The Myristica moschata is a native of the Molucus and its 

 neighboring Islands, but is extensively cultivated in Sumatra, Java, 



