BALSAMACEJE. 



Nat.syst. ed. 2. p. 188. 



LIQUIDAMBAR. 



Catkins of distinct sexes, monoecious, having a common 4-leaved 

 deciduous involucre. $ . Catkins conical or globose, composed 

 of extremely numerous subsessile anthers. ? . Catkins globose, 

 composed of small scales, which surround the ovaries, grow to- 

 gether and gradually enlarge. Ovary 2-celled ; styles 2, subu- 

 late. Capsules oblong, 2-lobed, immersed in sockets formed by 

 the scales, 2-celled, opening at the apex between the styles, 

 many-seeded. Seeds compressed, with a membranous wing, 

 attached to the middle of the dissepiment. Blume. 



660. L. Altingia Blume bijdr. 527. fl. jav. c. ic. Altingia 

 excelsa Noronha in act. bat. V. p. 1-20. Forests of Java at an 

 elevation of from 2000 to 3000 feet above the sea. (Ras-sa- 

 ma-la.) 



A gigantic tree. Buds large, ovate, imbricated. Leaves alternate, 

 stalked, ovate-lanceolate, bluntly acuminate, somewhat rounded at the 

 base, coriaceous, smooth, with glandular serratures ; stipules subulate, 

 deciduous, with 2 very small teeth or glands at the side, near the apex. 

 Catkins terminal, racemose, globose ; the upper 6-8 males, the 'lower 

 females and fewer. Leaves of the involucre covered with yellowish 

 silky down. Bark with a hot and bitterish taste, yielding when 

 wounded a fragrant honey-like balsam. The latter is liquid storax, 

 a stimulating expectorant substance acting in the same way as solid 

 storax, that is to say influencing the mucous membranes, especially that 

 which lines the air passages. But although this tree undoubtedly 

 produces the fine liquid storax or Rasamala of the Malayan archipelago, 

 it is probable that the principal part of that in use is obtained from 

 L. orientale, for Mr. Pereira ascertained by inspecting the books of a 

 wholesale druggist that all the storax imported for 7 years came from 

 Trieste. 



661. L. orientale Mill. diet. No. 2. L. imberbe Hort. Kew., 

 iii. 365. Platanus orientalis Pocock trav. ii. 230. t. 89. Cy- 

 prus and other parts of the East of Europe. 



A small tree. Leaves bright green, perfectly smooth even at the 

 axils of the veins on the under side, shining above, pallid beneath ; 

 palmate, with serrated obscurely 3-lobed divisions. Dr. Pocock 

 found this tree in Cyprus, where it is called Xylon Effendi (the 

 wood of our Lord); he says it produces an excellent white Tur- 

 pentine, especially by incisions made in the bark. The common 

 Cypriots toast and suck morsels of the wood and bark, esteeming them 

 a specific remedy in fevers. 



321 y 



