170 BOTANY. 



a product of BoswelHa serrata, a large Indian tree. Balsamodendron myrrha, 

 a native of Abyssinia, supplies myrrh ; other species yield Bdellium, and 

 B. gileadense, Balm of Gilead. 



Order 157. Anacardiace^, the Cashew-nut Family. Flowers usually 

 unisexual. Calyx usually small and persistent, with five, or sometimes 

 three, four, or seven divisions. Petals equal in number to the calycine 

 divisions, perigynons, sometimes ; imbricated in aestivation. Stamens 

 either equal to the petals in number, and alternate with them, or twice as 

 many or more ; filaments distinct or cohering at the base, usually perigynous. 

 Disk fleshy, annular, or cup-shaped, sometimes inconspicuous. Ovary 

 single, rarely five or six, free or adhering to the calyx, one-celled ; ovule 

 solitary, attached by a funiculus to the bottom, or along the side of the cell ; 

 styles one to three, occasionally four ; stigmas one to three or four. Fruit 

 usually drupaceous and indehiscent. Seed ascending or frequently 

 pendulous, from the adherence of the funiculus to the angle of the cell, 

 exalbuminous ; radicle inferior or superior, sometimes curved suddenly 

 back ; cotyledons thick, fleshy, or leafy. Trees or shrubs, with a resinous, 

 often caustic juice, and alternate leaves without dots. The order is a sub- 

 division of the Terebinthacese of Jnssieu. The plants inhabit chiefly the 

 tropical parts of America, Africa, and India ; some, however, are found in 

 Europe. There are forty-one known genera and ninety-five species. 

 Examples : Anacardium, Rhus, Mangifera, Spondias. 



Many species possess a caustic and poisonous juice. Some furnish edible 

 fruit. The Cashew-nut is obtained from Anacardium occidentale. The 

 Pistacia-nut is the fruit of Pistacia vera, cultivated in the south of Europe. 

 P. terebinthus supplies Chian turpentine, and P. lentiscus, the substance 

 called mastic. Some species of Rhus, found in the United States, as R. 

 toxicodendron, poison oak and poison vine, and R. venenata, known as 

 poison or swamp sumach, are much to be dreaded by persons of particular 

 constitutions, simple contact in many cases producing severe inflammation 

 of the skin. Some (not very well authenticated) instances are on record, 

 where simple proximity, with the wind blowing through the plant on an 

 individual, has caused the characteristic affection of the skin. Some 

 persons are able to handle these poisonous species of Rhus with impunity. 

 R. aromatica has highly fragrant leaves. R. typhina, copallina, and glabra, 

 are harmless North American species, known as sumachs, whose leaves and 

 young shoots, with those of R. coriaria, a European species, furnish the 

 tanner's sumach. Some species of the order supply varnishes. Japan 

 Lacquer is the juice of Stagmaria verniciflua; Sylhet varnish, that of 

 Semecarpus anacardium. 



Rhus cotinus, the Smoke tree, Southern Europe {pi. 71, ßg. 2) ; a, a 

 flowering branch ; 5, a flower magnified ; c, ditto without the petals ; <^, an 

 anther; <?,/*, fruit. 



Anacardium occidentale. Cashew-nut, West Indies {pi. 71, ßg. 1) ; «, 

 branch with flowers and fruit; J, flower; c, calyx; d, staminal tube; e, 

 ditto laid open ; /, pistil ; ^, cross-section of the nut, 



Pistacia terebinthus, Turpentine tree, Mediterranean coast {pi. 71,ßg.S) ; 

 170 



