XXXIII. SIMARUBACE.?;. 193 



Obder XXXIII. SIMARUBACE^. 



Trees or slirubs, usually with bitter bark. Leaves usually alternate, 

 pinnate, rarely simple ; stipules 0, or deciduous. Inflorescence mostly 

 axillary, paniculate or racemose, rarely spicate ; flowers regular, usually 

 small, diclinous or polygamous, rarely hermaphrodite. Calyx 3-5-lobed 

 or -partite. Petals 3-5, very rarely 0, imbricate or valvate. Disk 

 annular, cupular, or elongated into a gynophore, rarely 0. Stamens 

 inserted at the base of the disk, equal in number to the petals or twice 

 as many ; filaments free, naked, often with a scale at the base ; anthers 

 oblong, usually introrse, 2-celled, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary often 

 deeply 2-5-lobed, 1-6-celled ; ovules usually solitary (rarely many) in each 

 cell ; raphe ventral ; micropyle superior ; styles 2-5, free at the base 

 and apex or at the base only, or connate by the usually capitellate 

 stigmas. Fruit drupaceous or capsular or sometimes samaroid. Seeds 

 usually solitary, pendulous ; testa membranous ; albumen copious, fleshy, 

 scanty or ; embryo straight or curved ; cotyledons usually plano- 

 convex or flat, rarely contorted or rugose ; rndicle superior. — Distrib. 

 Tropical and warm regions; species about 120. 



Ovary deeply dividecl. 



Leaves pinnate ; fruit samaroid 1. Ailantiius. 



Leaves simple ; fruit drupaceous, winged 2. Sa.madera. 



Ovary entire; leaves 2-foliolaLe 3. Balanites. 



1. AILANTHUS, Desf. 



Lofty trees. Leaves alternate, pinnate ; leaflets alternate or sub- 

 opposite. Flowers in terminal or axillary branched panicles, small ; 

 pedicels bracteate. Calyx short, 5-fid ; lobes equal, imbricate. Petals 5, 

 spreading, induplicato-valvate. Disk 10-lobed. Stamens 10 in the 

 male, 2-3 in the hermaphrodite and in the female flowers, inserted 

 at the base of the disk ; filaments very short or filiform, without scales. 

 Ovary 2-5-partite (rudimentary in the male flowers) ; ovule 1 in eat'h 

 cell, semianatropous ; styles connate. Samaras 1-5, large, membranous, 

 linear-oblong, veined, 1-seeded in the middle. Seed compressed ; testa 

 membranous ; albumen scanty, adhering to the testa ; cotyledons flat, 

 foliaceous, suborbicular. — Distrib. India, Australia, China ; species 3-4. 



Leaflets coarsely toothed ; filaments shorter than the anthers . L A. e.vce/sa. 

 Leaflets entire ; filaments longer than the anthers 2. A. malaha.rka. 



1. Ailanthus excelsa, Roxb. Cor. PI. v. 1 (1795) p. 24, t. 23. 

 A tree 60-80 ft, high. Leaves unequally or equally pinnate, usually 

 8-12 in. but sometimes reaching 2-3 ft. long, the younger tomentose, 

 the older more or less so or glabrous ; leaflets 8-14 pairs, alternate or 

 subopposite, very variable in shapp, 4-6 in. long, coarsely and irregularly 

 toothed or sublobate, very unequal at the base ; pt'tiolules |-2 in. long. 

 Flowers in large lax often much-branched panicles ; pedicels long, 

 slender. Calyx-lobes ovate-triangular. Petals -^ in. long, ovate- 

 lanceolate, glabrous, reflexed. Filaments glabrous, about half as long 

 as the anthers. Samara l|-2^ in. long by ^-k in, broad, lanceolate, 

 acute at both ends, reddish-brown, twisted near the base, many-nerved, 

 the nerves reticulate above the seed, otherwise nearly parallel. Seed 

 solitary in the centre of the samara. Fl. B. I. v. 1, p. 518 ; Grab. Cat. 



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