98 



SUVA OF NOB Til AMERICA. 



EURSERACE.E. 



many numerous open ducts and tliin medullary rays. It is \\g\\t brown "witli a thick sapwood of tlie 

 same color, and soon becomes discolored by decay. Tbe specific gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 

 0.3003, a cubic foot of the dry wood weighing 18.71 pounds. The wood of only three other North 

 American trees is hghter than that of Bursera Simaruha, which decays so rapidly that it is useless 

 in the arts and even for fuel.^ Pieces of the trunk or the large branches cut and set in the ground 

 quickly develop roots and grow rapidly into large treeSj a peculiarity which renders it valuable in mak- 

 ing hedges or fences.^ The aromatic resin obtained from incisions cut iu the trunk of this tree was 

 formerly used under the name of Caranna in the treatment of gout,^ and in the West Indies it is man- 

 ufactured into varnish. Au infusion of the leaves is sometimes used in Florida as a substitute for tea. 



Bursera Simaruha was one of the first American trees which attracted the attention of Europe- 

 ans, and many of the early authors mention it. It was noticed by Oviedo y Valdes ; ■* Paul Hermann ^ 

 described it in 1689 ; and it was first figured by Plukenet.^ 



Bursera Simaruha, according to Alton, was cultivated in the gardens of Hampton Court palace, 

 near London, in 1690.'' 



^ "rromage de Holland a cause que sou bois est le plus tendre 

 de tout les bois qui soieiit dans les isles," Du Tertre, Histoire Gene- 

 rale des Isles de St. Chrisloplie, etc. 220, 



2 " The Branches of this Tree being staked into the Earth, mil 

 grow ; and, I have known a Branch of it, the' stripped of its Leaves, 

 and exposed to "Wind and Weather (as Part of au Arbour for a 

 Grape-vine), which, in this Situation, budded and put forth young 

 Shoots, & Leaves." (Griffith Hughes, Natural History of the Bar- 

 badoes, 145.) 



3 Henry Watts, Did. Chemistry, i. 749. — Guibourt, Hist. Drog. 

 ed. 7, iii. 525, f. 749. 



* Hist. Gen. Nat. Ind. lib. 9, cap. 10. 



s Terehinthus Americ. pobjphylla, Palamalatta dicta, Parad. Bat. 

 Prodr. 379. — Plukenct, Phyt. t. 228, f. G. 



^ Betula arbor Americana, serninibus Lithospermi frumentacei cemu- 

 lis. Birch-tree Barhadcnaihus dicta, Phyt. t. 151, f. 1. 



Terebinlhus major, betul(E cortice, J'ructu triangulari, Sloane, Cat. 

 Jam. 1G7 ; Hist. Jam. ii. 89, t. 199, f. 1, 2. — Catesby, Nat. Hist. 

 Car. i. 30, t. 30. 



Terebinlhus foliis cordato-ovatis pinnatis, cortice levi rufescenie Jiori- 

 bus masculinis spicatls, Browne, Nat. Hist. Jam. 345. 



' Hort. Kew. i. 479. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



Plate XLI. Bursera Simaruba. 



1. A flowering branch of staminate flowers, natural size. 



2. A flowering branch of pistillate flowers, natural size. 



3. A fiower-bud, enlarged. 



4. A staminate flower, enlarged. 



5. Vertical section of a staminate flower, enlarged. 



6. Anterior and posterior views of a stamen, enlarged. 



7. A pistillate flower, enlarged. 



8. Vertical section of a pistillate flower, enlarged. 



9. Diagram of a pistiflate flower. 



Plate XLII. Bursera SiiiAEmjA. 



1. A fruiting branch, natural size. 



2. A fruit, tbe valves partly open, natural size. 



3. Vertical section of a drupe, enlarged. 



4. A nutlet, enlarged. 



5. Vertical section of a nutlet, enlarged. 



6. An embryo, much enlarged. 



7. An embryo, the cotyledons displayed, much enlarged. 



