M E L 



M E L 



acute : the petals five, obovatc, roundish, 

 blunt, spreading, longer than the segments of 

 the calyx, violet-purple : the filaments ten, the 

 length of the corolla, filiform, purple: the 

 anthers very long, sickle-shaped : the germ 

 oblone : the style long and curved : the stigma 

 thickish : the fruit a berry. It is a native of 

 Brazil. 



Culture. — These plants are best obtained by 

 having the entire fruits put up in their native 

 places in dry sand as soon as ripened and im- 

 mediately forwarded, which as soon as they ar- 

 rive should be taken out, and the seeds sown in 

 pots of light earth, plunging them in a moderate 

 hot-bed of tanner's bark : when the plants are up, 

 and fit to remove, they should be planted each 

 in a small pot of light earth, re-plunging them 

 into the tan-bed. 



They afterwards require the management of 

 other woodv stove plants. 



They mav also be increased by laying the 

 young branches in the spring and by plant- 

 ing cuttings of the young shoots in the summer 

 season in pots, and plunging them in a hot-bed. 

 They must afterwards have the same culture as 

 the others. 



MELIA, a genus containing plants of the 

 deciduous and evergreen exotic tree kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Decandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Trihilatce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianthium, very small, five-toothed, up- 

 right, blunt : the corolla has five linear lanceo- 

 late petals, spreading, long : nectary cylin- 

 dric, one-leafed, the length of the corolla, with 

 a ten-toothed mouth : the stamina have ten fila- 

 ments, very small, inserted within the apex of 

 the nectary : anthers not exceeding the nec- 

 tary, oblong : the pistillum is a conical germ : 

 style cylindric, the length of the nectary : stig- 

 ma capitate, with five converging valves : the 

 pericarpium is a ^lobular soft drupe : the seed 

 a roundish nut, five-grooved, five-celled. 



The species are: \.M. Azedarach, Common 

 Bead-tree : 2. M. semper vir ens, Evergreen 

 Bead -tree; 3. M. Azedirachla, Indian Ever- 

 green Bead tree. 



The first, in its native situation, grows to a 

 Targe tree, spreading out into many branches: 

 the leaflets are notched and indented on their 

 edges, deep green above, and paler underneath: 

 the flowers come out from the side of the 

 branches in long loose bunches : the petals 

 are blue : the fruit oblong, the size of a small 

 cherry, green at first, but when ripe changing 

 to a pa!e yellow : the nut four- or five-celled, 

 with one oblong seed in each cell. It flowers in 



July, but seldom produces seeds : it drops the 

 leaves in autumn, and puts out fresh ones in 

 the spring: the pulp surrounding the nut is said 

 to be poisonous. The nuts are bored and strung 

 for beads. It is a native of Syria. 



The second species, which has generally been 

 regarded as a variety, is thought by Swartz to 

 be a distinct species, differing from that in 

 being smaller and often flowering for two years 

 together : the leaflets, which are bright green, 

 are seldom more than seven, wrinkled a little, 

 deeper and more unequally serrate and acumi- 

 nate. It is a native of the East Indies. 



The third becomes a large tree in India. The 

 stem is thick, the wood of a pale yellow, and 

 the bark of a dark purple colour, and very bitter : 

 the branches extend wide on every side : the 

 leaves are composed of five or six pairs of ob- 

 long acute-pointed leaflets, terminated by an 

 odd one; they are serrate, of a light green colour, 

 and of a strong disagreeable odour; they stand 

 upon pretty long foot-stalks, opposite, or 

 alternate: the flowers are produced in long 

 branching panicles from the side of the 

 branches : they are small, white, and sit in 

 small calyxes, cut into five acute segments : 

 fruit oval, the size of small olives, green, 

 turning yellow, and when ripe changing to 

 purple : the pulp is oily, acrid, and bitter : 

 the nut is white, and shaped like that of the 

 former. 



Culture. — These plants are all capable of being 

 increased by seeds, which in the first sort are 

 obtained from abroad, and should be sown in 

 pots of light rich earth in the spring, plunging 

 them in a hot-bed of tanner's bark or dung, 

 under frame and glasses, giving frequent water- 

 ings and fresh air when the plants are come 

 up, being fully exposed in a moderate shade, 

 during the summer, and placed under a frame 

 in the autumn, &c. to have the free air all 

 winter in open weather, and be sheltered from 

 frost. 



In the following March they may be planted 

 in separate small pots, plunged in a bark-bed, 

 &c. Though this last is not absolutely neces- 

 sary, when practised it greatly facilitates their 

 rooting and early growth. 



When they have been thus managed for three 

 or four years, and shifted occasionally into larger 

 pots ; some of the strongest and most woody 

 plants may be planted out in the full ground 

 under a warm wall, or in a dry sheltered part of 

 the shrubbery. . The proper season for this 

 work is the first fortnight in April. 



Some plants should likewise be placed in 

 pots, to have the management of green-house 

 exotic plants, lest those in the open ground 



