CEDRELEACE^E. I. CEDRELA. II. SWIETENIA. 



687 



1 C. ODORA'TA (Lin. spec. 289.) leaflets ovate-lanceolate, 

 entire, on short stalks. Tj . S. Native of the Caribbee Islands 

 and Barbadoes. Sloan, hist. 2. t. 220. f. 2. Brownejam. 159. 

 t. 10. f. 1. Lam. ill. t. 137. Corollas whitish flesh-coloured, 

 resembling those of hyacinth. Fruit about the size of a par- 

 tridge's egg. The bark of the tree is rough, marked with lon- 

 gitudinal fissures. This as well as the berries and leaves has a 

 smell like Assa-foetida, when fresh. The timber, however, has 

 a pleasant smell. The tree is commonly known under the name 

 of Cedar in the British West India islands. The trunk is so 

 large as to be hollowed out into canoes and pariaguas, for which 

 purpose it is extremely well adapted ; the wood being soft, it 

 may be cut out with great facility, and being light it will carry 

 a great weight on the water. There are canoes in the West 

 Indies, which have been formed out of these trunks, 40 feet 

 long and 6 feet broad ; the wood is of a brown colour, and has 

 a fragrant odour, whence the name of Cedar has been given to it ; 

 it is frequently cut into shingles for covering houses, and is found 

 very durable, but as the worms are apt to eat this wood, it is not 

 proper for building ships, though it is often used for that purpose, 

 as also for sheathing of ships. It is also used for wainscoting 

 of rooms, and to make chests, because vermin do not so fre- 

 quently breed in it as in many other sorts of wood, this having 

 a very bitter taste, which is communicated to whatever is put 

 into the chests, especially when the wood is fresh, for which 

 reason it is never made into casks, because spiritous liquors will 

 dissolve part of the resin, and thereby acquire a very bitter taste. 



Sweet-scented Bastard-cedar. Clt. 1 739. Tree 80 feet. 



2 C. ANGUSTIFOLIA (Moc. et Sesse, fl. mex. icon. ined. D.C. 

 prod. 1. p. 624.) leaflets oblong, acuminated, entire, on long 

 footstalks. ^ . S. Native of New Spain. The wood is good 

 for many purposes, especially for making furniture. 



Narrow-leaved Bastard-cedar. Tree 50 feet. 



3 C. BRASILIE'NSIS (St. Hil. fl. bras. 2. p. 80. t. 101.) leaves 

 abruptly-pinnate, with 1 4-20 oblong, obliquely ovate, acuminated, 

 entire leaflets, which are smooth above but puberulous beneath ; 

 petals clothed with white tomentum. Tj . S. Native of Brazil 

 in the province of Minus Geraes. Panicle terminal, large, 

 pyramidal. 



Var. ft, australis (St. Hil. 1. c.) leaflets with the nerves and 

 margins puberulous ; branches, petioles, and peduncles short, 

 and densely pubescent. 



Brazilian Bas:ard-cedar. Tree 40 feet. 



4 C. TOONA (Roxb. cor. 3. t. 238.) leaflets lanceolate, acumi- 

 nated, entire, pale-glaucous beneath. T? . S. Native of the 

 East Indies, where it is called Toon (Roxb.). Nipaul (Wall.). 

 Willd. act. nat. cur. berl. 4. p. 198. Anthers inserted in 5 

 nectarial glands. Flowers small, white, smelling like fresh 

 honey. Leaves deciduous. The wood of this tree is very like 

 mahogany, but lighter and not so close in the grain. It is 

 much used for furniture and various other purposes. The bark 

 is powerfully astringent, and though not bitter, it has been found 

 a good medicine in the cure of remitting and intermitting fevers, 

 particularly when joined with a small portion of the powdered 

 seed of Guilandlna Bonducella, which is a very powerful bitter. 



Toon Bastard-cedar. Fl. Feb. May. Clt. 1823. Tr. 60 ft. 



5 C. FEBRI'FUGA (Blum, bijdr. 4th number) leaflets ovate- 

 oblong, acuminated, quite entire. \^ . S. Native of Java. 

 Flowers small, white. The bark is powerfully astringent, and 

 is used in Java as a febrifuge. The wood is excellent for many 

 purposes. 



Febrifuge Bastard-cedar. Tree 60 feet. 



6 C. VELUTINA (D. C. prod. 1. p. 625.) leaflets ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, entire, smooth, petioles and branches velvety from very 

 short down. Jj . S. Native of the East Indies at Tipperah. 

 This is perhaps the C. villosa of Roxb. hort. beng. p. 18. This 



tree has been cultivated a long time in Kew Gardens, under the 

 name of Cedrela odorala. 



Velvety Bastard-cedar. Clt. 1793. Tree 50 feet. 



t Species not sufficiently known. 



7 C. ALTERNIFOLIA (Steud. nom. 170.) leaves alternate, sim- 

 ple, cordate-ovate, acute, fruit pentagonal, mucronated. Tj . S. 

 Native of Campechy. Cedrus alternifolia, Mill. diet. no. 3. 

 This probably belongs to a distinct genus, not belonging to the 

 present order. 



Alternate-leaved Bastard-cedar. Clt. ? Tree. 



8 C. ROSMARINUS (Lour. coch. p. 160.) leaves simple, li- 

 near ; peduncles 1 -flowered ; seeds not winged. fj.G. Na- 

 tive of Cochin-china and about Macao in China. This shrub 

 yields an essential oil, and a spirit, not inferior to that which is 

 drawn from rosemary. It probably belongs to a distinct genus, 

 not belonging to this order. 



Rosemary Bastard- cedar. Shrub 4 feet. 



Cult. These trees will thrive well in a mixture of loam and 

 peat ; and large ripened cuttings will strike root in sand under 

 a hand-glass, in heat. 



II. SWIETE'NIA (in honour of Gerard Van Swieten, a 

 Dutch botanist, author of several botanical works; died in J772. 

 He was physician to the Empress Maria Theresa). Lin. gen. 

 no. 575. D. C. prod. 1. p. 625. 



LIN. SYST. Monadelphia, Octo-Decdndria. Calyx small, 4 or 

 5-cleft(f. 116. a.), deciduous. Petals 4-5 (f. 116. 6.). Stamens 

 8 or 1 ; filaments joined together into a toothed tube, bearing 

 the anthers on the inside of the tube. Style 1. Stigma capitate 

 (f. 116. c.). Capsules prickly, egg-shaped, woody, 5-celled, 

 many-seeded (f. 116. _/.). Valves opening from the base (f. 

 116. e.) or apex ; margins opposite to the angles of the pentagonal 

 central placenta. Seeds imbricating downwards, expanded into 

 a wing, fixed to the placenta. Albumen fleshy. Embryo straight. 

 Cotyledons flat, leafy. (Gaert. fruct. 2. p. 89. t. 96.) Trees with 

 alternate, abruptly-pinnate leaves, and axillary panicles or ra- 

 cemes of small, white flowers. 



1 S. MAIIOGONI (Lin. FIG. 116. 



spec. "271.) leaflets 

 usually 4 pairs, ovate- 

 lanceolate, unequal at 

 the base, acuminated at 

 the apex ; panicles axil- 

 lary, .tj . S. Native of 

 South America, Cuba, Ja- 

 maica, St. Domingo, but 

 particularly Honduras 

 Bay. Cav. diss. 7. p. 

 365. t. 209. Hook. bot. 

 misc. pt. l.t. 16 and 17. 

 Cedrus Mahogoni, Mill. diet. no. 2. Cat. carol. 2. t. 81. 

 The figure given by Gartner, and that given in the Fl. mex. 

 shew the capsule opening from the top, not from the base, 

 therefore there are probably two species, varying in the dehis- 

 cence of the capsule. Mahogoni is the American name of the 

 tree. The excellence of mahogany for all domestic purposes 

 has been long known in England, and it is a matter of surprise 

 that for a long time the only author who mentioned this tree 

 was Catesby. Browne informs us, that mahogany was for- 

 merly very common in Jamaica, and while it could be had in the 

 low lands, and brought to market at an easy rate, furnished a 

 very considerable branch of the exports from that island, that it 

 thrives in most soils, and varies both in grain and texture with 

 each, that which grows among rocks being smaller, but very 

 hard and weighty, of a close grain and beautifully shaded, while 



