AMYRIDACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed.2. p. 165. 

 AMYRIS. 



Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx 4-toothed, permanent. Pe- 

 tals 4, hypogynous, cuneate, unguiculate, imbricated in aestiva- 

 tion. Stamens 8, shorter than the petals. Ovary 1 -celled, 

 seated on a thick disk-like receptacle ; stigma sessile. Drupe 

 with a thin-sided 1 -seeded stone. Trees or shrubs containing 

 a resinous juice. Leaves compound, with pellucid dots. Flowers 

 panicled, white. Drupes abounding in aromatic oil. 



576. A. balsamifera Linn, sp.pl. 496. Willd. ii. 338. Swartz. 

 obs. 149. Macfady. jam. i. 232. A. toxifera Willd. ii. 336. 

 DC.prodr. ii. 81. (Pluk. t. 201. f. 3. Catesby car. i. t. 40.) 

 West Indies. 



A small tree or bush. Branches rough with small asperities. Leaves 

 unequally pinnated ; leaflets in 2 pairs, slightly stalked, ovate, rounded 

 at the base, acuminate, nearly entire, with pellucid dots. Panicles ter- 

 minal, sessile. Flowers numerous, white, slightly fragrant, in threes. Di- 

 visions of calyx ciliated. Petals reflexed. Ovary slightly downy; stigma 

 sub-sessile, capitate. Branches when bruised or broken exhale a strong 

 smell. Said to be poisonous according to De Candolle. 



577. A.? hexandra Hamilt. prodr. ind. occ. p. 34. Woods 

 in damp cool alpine places on the central mountain of Nevis. 



A good sized tree. Leaves unequally pinnate, in 3 pairs ; leaflets 

 entire, ovate, shortly, obtusely, and rather obliquely acuminate, decurrent 

 at the base into a short petiole ; smooth on each side, netted beneath. 

 Flowers panicled, small, greenish, always hexandrous. Panicles axillary 

 and terminal. Calyx cyathiform, entire. Petals 3, greenish, entire. 

 Stamens 6, very short. Ovary oblong, smooth (inferior according to 

 Hamilton, but this I suppose to be an error of the press for superior) ; 

 style short; stigma obtuse. Fruit (the stone of the drupe ^mem- 

 branous, elliptical, acuminate at each end, 1-valved. Mr. William 

 Hamilton from whom the above imperfect account is taken says that 

 this plant produces the fragrant fennel-scented substance called Gum 

 Elemi, on Nevis. He adds that it is a large tree yielding a fragrant re- 

 sinous juice which flows in abundance when the smooth ash-coloured 

 bark is wounded. 



* # * The genera Copaifera and Myrospermum, included in this order 

 here and in my Introduction to the Natural System, hold a sort of middle 

 place between Amyridaceas and Fabaceae (Leguminosae), and are usually 

 referred to the latter. I think however that the balance of reasoning 

 upon the subject upon the whole turns this way, and they accordingly 

 remain where I have already placed them. 

 277 T 3 



