688 



CEDRELEACE^E. II. SWIETENIA. III. CiiLoaoxYLON. IV. FLINDERSIA. V. OXLEYA. 



the produce of the low and richer lands is observed to be more 

 light and porous, of a paler colour and open grain. The tree 

 grows very tall, with a straight trunk, sometimes 4 or 6 feet in 

 diameter, and usually bears a great number of capsules. The 

 flowers are of a whitish or saffron colour, and the fruit is about 

 the size of a turkey's egg. 



The first discovery of the beauty of mahogany wood is attri- 

 buted to the carpenter on board Sir Walter Raleigh's ship at 

 the time that vessel lay off the harbour of Trinidad in 1595. 

 At Honduras 200 years is considered to be necessary from the 

 time of the plant being reared by seed to that of its perfection 

 and fitness for cutting, which commences about the month of 

 August ; at this time the leaves assume a yellowish hue. The 

 Honduras mahogany is not so good as the Jamaica and St. 

 Domingo mahogany, and is probably a distinct species. The 

 bark of mahogany is astringent and bitter, and in its action 

 on the human frame has been said to coincide nearly with Peru- 

 vian bark. 



Common Mahogany. Clt. 1 784. Tree 80 feet. 



2 S. FEBRI'FUGA (Roxb. cor. 1. p. 18. t. 17.) leaflets usually 

 4 pairs, oval, obtuse or emarginate, and oblique at the base ; 

 racemes rising from the axils of the upper abortive leaves, there- 

 fore constituting a terminal panicle. J? . S. Native of the East 

 Indies in the mountainous parts of the Rajahmundry Circar, 

 north of Samulcotah and Peddapore. S. S6ymida, Dune. tent. 

 edin.1794. Valvesof fruit smooth, opening from the top. Flowers 

 small, cream-coloured. The wood of this tree is of a dull-red 

 colour, remarkably hard and heavy ; it is reckoned by the 

 natives the most durable wood they know, and on that account it 

 is used for all the wood-work in their temples ; it is also very 

 serviceable for various other purposes. The bark is internally 

 of a light-red colour; a decoction of it dyes brown of various 

 shades, according as the cloth has been prepared. Its taste is a 

 bitter and astringent united, and very strong, particularly the 

 bitter, but is not in any way nauseous or disagreeable, and may 

 be used in the same way as Peruvian bark. Soymida is its name 

 among the Telingas. 



Febrifuge Mahogany. Clt. 1796. Tree CO feet. 



3 S. SENEGALE'NSIS (Desr. in Lam. diet. 3. p. 679.) leaflets 

 usually 3 pairs, oval-oblong, coriaceous, bluntish ; panicle ter- 

 minal ; flowers octandrous ; fruit globose, 4-valved. Tj . S. 

 Native of Senegal. Flowers small, whitish. The wood of this 

 tree is very hard, and of a beautiful grain. It is brought to 

 this country from Sierra Leone. 



Senegal or African Mahogany. Tree 60 feet. 



4 S. TRILOCULA'RIS (Roxb. mss. in herb. Lamb.) leaves pin- 

 nate ; leaflets alternate, ovate, smooth, acuminated, rather un- 

 equal at the base ; panicle terminal, composed of racemes ; 

 capsule 3-celled, 6-valved, opening from the apex, not prickly. 

 Jj . S. Native of the East Indies. 



T/ij-ee-ceWed-capsuled Mahogany Tree. Tree 100 feet. 



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

 peat, and ripe cuttings with their leaves not shortened will strike 

 root in sand, in a moist heat. 



III. CHLORO'XYLON (from x^wpoc, chloros, yellow, &W, 

 xylon, wood; colour of wood). D. C. prod. 1. p. 625. 



LIN. SYST. Monadelphla, Dec&ndna. Calyx small, 5-cleft. 

 Petals 5. Stamens 10; filaments protruding from the back of 

 the urceolus, the rest awl-shaped, free, radiately spreading. Cap- 

 sules opening from the top, 3-valved, 3-celled ; valves bearing a 

 dissepiment in the middle. Seeds 4 in each cell, ending in a wing 

 fixed to the dissepiments on the valves. A tree with abruptly- 

 pinnate leaves, and terminal panicles of small, whitish flowers. 



1 C. SW:ETE'NIA (D. C, prod. 1. p. 625.) Tj . S. Native 

 of the East Indies on the mountainous parts of the Circars. 



Swictenia chloroxyl n, Roxb. cor. 1. p. 46. t. 64. Leaves 

 abruptly-pinnate, with many pairs of small, unequal, ovate, some- 

 what rhomboid, obtuse leaflets. The wood of this tree is of a 

 deep-yellow colour, remarkably close grained, heavy, and du- 

 rable ; it is used for various purposes, and comes nearer to box- 

 wood than any other in its native country. It is called Billoo 

 by the Telingas. 



Mahogany-like Chloroxylon. Clt. 1820. Tree 50 feet. 



Cult. This tree will succeed in a mixture of loam and peat, 

 and ripe cuttings, with their leaves not shortened, will strike root 

 in sand under a hand-glass, in a moist heat. 



IV. FLINDE'RSIA (Captain Michael Flinders, R.N. a cele- 

 brated circumnavigator, who explored the coast of New Holland 

 in the beginning of the present century ; he was accompanied 

 by Mr. R. Browne, as naturalist, whose works on the botany of 

 New Holland are well known). R. Br. gen. rem. p. 63. t. 1. 

 D. C. prod. 1. p. 625. 



LIN. SYST. Monadelphia, Decandria. Calyx 5-cleft, short. 

 Petals 5. Stamens 10, protruding from the back of the urceo- 

 lus, with their bases dilated ; filaments awl-shaped, spreading, 

 alternate ones sterile. Capsule 5-valved, 5-celled, partible into 

 5 single segments, which are divided each by a longitudinal 

 dissepiment, at length free, with 2 seeds on each side. Seeds 

 erect, winged at the apex. Albumen absent. Cotyledons trans- 

 verse, thick, leafy. Trees with impari-pinnate leaves, small 

 white flowers, and echinated capsules. 



1 F. AUSTRA'LIS (R. Br. 1. c.) leaflets 1 to 3 pairs ; flowers 

 panicled ; fruit ovate, very blunt at both ends. I? . G. Native 

 of New Holland on the eastern coast. Leaves full of pellucid 

 dots, as in the orange. The wood is useful for various domestic 

 purposes, and is said not to be much inferior to mahogany. 



Southern Flindersia. Clt. 1823. Tree 66 feet. 



2 F. AMBOINE'NSIS (Poir. suppl. 4. p. 650.) leaflets 3 or 7 

 pairs ; flowers almost solitary ; fruit ovate-oblong, tapering to 

 both ends. T? . S. Native of the islands of Hitoe and Ceram. 

 Rumph. amb. 3. p. 201. t. 129. The trunk of the tree is 

 used for pales. The spiny part of the fruit is formed into rasps 

 by the natives of Amboyna ; it is therefore called Arbor raduli- 

 fera by Rumphius. 



Amboyna Flindersia. Tree 60 feet. 



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

 and peat, and ripened cuttings, with their leaves not shortened, 

 will strike root in sand under a hand-glass, those of the last 

 species in heat. 



V. OXLEYA (in honour of Mr. Oxley of New South 

 Wales). Cung. mss. in Hook. bot. misc. pt. 3. p. 286. t. 54. 



LIN. SYST. Decandria, Monogynia ? Flowers unknown. 

 Capsule 5-celled, dividing even to the base into 5 valves, with 

 a dissepiment in the middle of each, at length separating from 

 the central receptacle, with 3 seeds on each side of the dissepi- 

 ment. Seeds fixed by their middle, edged all round and ex- 

 tended into a wing at both ends. Albumen wanting. Radicle 

 towards the hylum. This genus differs from Flindersia in the 

 valves separating from the base, in having 3 seeds on each side 

 of the dissepiment, and in the seeds being winged at both ends. 



1 O. XANTHOXYLA (Cung. mss. 1. c.). Tj . G. Native of the 

 eastern coast of New Holland. This is a tree 100 feet high, and 

 4 or 5 feet in diameter at the base. Leaves impari-pinnate, some- 

 times ternate, but usually with 4-5 pairs of opposite, lanceolate, 

 quite entire, acuminated, bluntish, coriaceous leaflets, full of 

 minute dots, on short stalks. The wood is very yellow. It is 

 found to be useful in various kinds of carpentering, and in 

 building boats. 



Yellow-wooded Oxleya. Clt. 1829. Tree 100 feet. 



