Plate 2524. 



BALSAMODENDRON PLAYFAIRII, Book./. 



BURSEKACE.E. 



B. Playfaini, Hook. f. in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. i. p. 326 ; ut videtur 

 species distincta, undique glabra, foliis trifoliolatis brevissinie petiolatis, 

 endocarpio lsevi. 



Frutex ramosus, spinosus, circiter 6 ped. altus, raniis tortuosis, cor- 

 tice cinereo ; ramuli laterales foliiferi vel floriferi abbreviati, sa^pe in 

 spina acutissima terrainantes. Folia pauca, pseudo-fasciculata, maxima 

 9 lin. longa, foliolis crassis integris lateralibus ssepe minutis. Flores 

 tetrameri, 2-2^ lin. diametro, brevissimepedicellati, pedicellis basi brac- 

 teis minutis squamiformibus instructis. Calycis lobi deltoideo-rotun- 

 dati, quam petala multo breviores. Petala stamina superantia, spathu- 

 lata vel oblongo-spathulata, undulata. Stamina 8, alterna breviora, 

 cum disci glandulis alternantia, longiora glandulis dorso adhserentia, 

 antheris ovoideis apiculatis. Drupa oblique ovoidea, siccitate vix 3 lin. 

 longa, apice acuta, epicarpio ssepissime (an semper ?) bivalvi ; pyrena 

 abortu unilocularis, endocarpio dorsiventro omnino lsevi, in uno latere 

 medio longitudinaliter leviter costato et marginato, id est, vestigiis 

 loculorum abortivorum ornato. Semina matura non visa. — Commi- 

 phora Myrrha, Engl, in DC. Monogr. Phaner. iv. p. 10, pro parte ; 

 non Balsamodendron Playfairii, Schweinf. in Ber. der Pharm. Gesell. 

 Berl. iii. (1893), p. 246 (Balsamodendron Myrrha, BentL and Trim. 

 Med. PL t. 60, non Nees), nee Commiphora Myrrha, var. Molmol, Engl., 

 Jahrb. xv. p. 95. 



East Africa : Somali coast, Playfair. 



This plant yields the Hotai gum-resin. As the above synonymy 

 shows, it has been referred to two other species. In a set of admirable 

 sketches of the fruits and leaves of various species of Balsamodendron 

 communicated to the Director of Kew by Dr. Schweinfurth, are some 

 marked Hildebrand, n. 1382 (1875), which the author identifies, in the 

 place cited, with B. Playfairii, but it has relatively long petioles, often 

 toothed leaflets and a rugose or tubercled endocarp, and is the same as 

 that figured in Bentley and Trimen's ' Medicinal Plants ' as B. Myrrha. 

 As stated in the Kew Bulletin 1896, p. 87, this appears to be closely 

 allied to B. {Commiphora) Schimperi. — W. Botting Hemsley. 



Fig. 1, leaves ; 2, a flower ; 3, a petal ; 4, stamens, disk and pistil ; 5, disk and 

 pistil ; 6 and 7, fruit ; 8, fruit from which a portion of exocarp has been removed 

 showing the smooth endocarp; 9, section of a fruit showing the aborted ovules. 

 All more or less enlarged. 



