TEREBINTHACE^E. IX. ASTRONIUM. X. MELANORRHOJA. XI. COMOCLADIA. 



67 



Cult. All the hardy species require to be planted in a shel- 

 tered situation, or against a wall ; they may either be increased 

 by seeds, layers, or ripe cuttings planted under a hand-glass. 

 The greenhouse kinds grow well in a mixture of loam and sand, 

 and ripened cuttings will root in sand under a hand-glass. 



IX. ASTRO'NIUM (from aarpov, astron, a star ; in allusion 

 to the shape of the calyx when expanded). Jacq. amer. 261. t. 

 181. f. 96. Kunth. gen. tereb. p. 9. D. C. prod. 2. p. 65. 



LIN. SYST. Diofcia, Pentandrla. Flowers dioecious. Calyx 

 of 5 coloured sepals. Petals 5, ovate. Male flowers with a 

 spreading corolla and calyx. Glands 5 in the disk. Stamens 5. 

 Calyx and corolla of the female flower connivcnt and permanent. 

 Calyxes after flowering accrete, and stellately spreading. Petals 

 much smaller. Ovary 1. Styles 3, reflexed. Pericarp mem- 

 branous, indehiscent, oblong, acute, 1 -seeded. Seed pendulous, 

 destitute of albumen, with thick oblong cotyledons, and an ob- 

 lique radicle. A small tree, abounding every where in a nause- 

 ous clammy turpentine juice. Leaves impari-pinnate, smooth. 

 Flowers in loose panicles. After the fruit in the female plants, 

 and the flowers in the male plants have fallen off, new branches 

 are put forth. 



1 A. GRAVE OLENS (Jacq. 1. c.) Jj . S. Native of Cartha- 

 gena, in woods, and of St. Martha. Leaflets 3 pairs, with an 

 odd one, stalked, ovate, acuminated, a little serrated. 



Strong-scented Astronium. Tree 20 feet. 



Cult. A mixture of loam and peat will answer this tree, and 

 ripened cuttings will root in sand under a hand-glass in heat. 



X. MELANORRHCE'A (from /iE\ae, /je\ai>of,melas,melanos, 

 black, and pew, rheo, to flow ; the tree when wounded yields a 

 black juice). Wall. pi. rar. asiat. 1. p. 9. t. 11, 12. 



LIN. SYST. Polyandria, Monogynia. Flowers hermaphro- 

 dite. Sepals 5, cohering valvately into a 5-nerved caducous 

 calyptra. Petals 5, rarely 6, imbricate in aestivation, perma- 

 nent, borne beneath the fruit. Style 1, rather lateral in the 

 vertex of the ovarium, crowned by a small convex stigma. 

 Fruit indehiscent, coriaceous, depressedly reniform, oblique, 

 pedicellate, furnished with a stellately spreading corolla-like 

 involucre. Seeds exalbuminous. Cotyledons fleshy, thick. 

 Radicle lateral, lying in the fissure of the cotyledons. Large 

 trees, with the habit of Semecdrpus, full of viscid ferruginous 

 juice, becoming black on exposure to the atmosphere, with large, 

 simple, deciduous leaves, and panicles of flowers. 



1 M. USITA'TA (Wall. 1. c. p. 9.) leaves obovate, very blunt, 

 villous. Tj . S. Native of Hindostan, in a large valley called 

 Kadbbu, in the kingdom of Munipur, Silhet, and Tipperah, as 

 well as in the Burmese empire, on the banks of the Irrawadi, 

 where it is called Thect-tsee or Zit-si. This is identical 

 with the majestic Ktieu or varnish-tree of Munipur, on the 

 north-east frontier districts of Silhet and Tipperah. Mr. M. R. 

 Smith, who has resided a long time in Silhet, considers this the 

 same as the varnish-tree of the Chinese, in the eastern and north 

 eastern provinces. It is procurable in great quantities from 

 Munipur, where it is used for painting river craft, and for var- 

 nishing vessels destined to contain liquid. The drug is conveyed 

 to Silhet for sale by the merchants. On being handled it occa- 

 sions -extensive erysipetalous swellings, attended with pain and 

 fever, but never of long duration. In the neighbourhood of 

 Prome a considerable quantity of varnish is extracted from the 

 tree, but very little at Martaban, owing, it is supposed, to the 

 poorness of the soil, and partly also to there being none of the 

 people in that part whose business is to perform the process, 

 although it is very simple. Short joints of a thin sort of bam- 

 boo, sharpened at one end, and shut up at the other, are inserted 

 in a slanting direction into holes made in the trunk and principal 

 branches, and left there for 24 or 48 hours ; after which they 



are removed, and their contents emptied into a basket pre- 

 viously varnished over. Sometimes a hundred bamboos may be 

 seen sticking into the tree at once during the collecting season, 

 which lasts as long as the tree is destitute of leaves, namely, 

 from January until April, and they are renewed as long as the 

 juice will flow. In its pure state it is sold at Prome at the rate 

 of one tieal or 2*. Gd, the viss, and at Martaban 2 Madras 

 rupees the viss, although of an inferior quality to that sold at 

 Prome, being usually mixed with oil of Sesamun. A tree is 

 reckoned to produce 2 to 3 or 4 viss annually, a viss being equal 

 to S^lbs. Every article of household furniture destined to con- 

 tain solid or liquid food is lacquered over with it. The article 

 to be varnished with it must be prepared with calcined bones, 

 after which the varnish is laid on thinly, either in its pure state 

 or variously coloured. The process of drying is the most difficult 

 part, being effected in a very slow and gradual manner by the 

 articles thus varnished being placed in subterraneous vaults for 

 several months. The drug is also used as a size glue in the pro- 

 cess of gilding ; nothing more being required than to besmear the 

 surface of the article to be gilded with it, and immediately to 

 apply the gold leaf. If it is considered how very extensively 

 that art is practised by the Burma nation, it being among their 

 most frequent acts of devotion and piety to contribute to the 

 gilding of their numerous religious edifices and idols, it will be 

 evident that a great quantity of the drug must be consumed for 

 that purpose alone. Finally, the beautiful Pali writing of the 

 religious order of the Burmas on ivory, palm-leaves, or metal, 

 is entirely done with this varnish in its native and pure state. 



Useful Black varnish-tree. Clt. 1828. Tree 100 feet. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Astronium. 



XI. COMOCLA'DIA (from KO^, kome, a tuft, and K\ 

 klados, a branch ; the leaves are crowded at the tops of the 

 branches). P. Browne, jam. 124. Jacq. amer. 12. Lam. ill. 

 t. 27. Kunth, gen. tereb. p. 9. D. C. prod. 2. p. 65. Dodo- 

 nas a, Plum, but not of Lin. 



LIN. SYST. Tri- Tetr&ndrla, Monogynia. Flowers herma- 

 phrodite or monoecious. Calyx 3-4-parted, permanent. Petals 

 3-4, long, large. Stamens 3-4, short. Ovary 1 . Style none. 

 Stigma 1. Drupe ovate, 1-celled, 1-seeded. Ovum rather 

 pendulous, fixed to the bottom of the ovary by a funicle which 

 is curved at the apex. Albumen none. Cotyledons thick. 

 Radicle superior, curved. South American trees, abounding 

 every where in clammy juice. Leaves impari-pinnate, with 

 opposite leaflets. Flowers small, purple, sometimes 4-cleft, on 

 short pedicels, disposed in loose branched panicles. 



1 C. JLICIFOLIA (Swartz, 2. fl. ind. occ. 1. p. 75.) leaflets ovate 

 or roundish, sessile, smooth, with spiny angles; spines 1-3 on 

 each side. Pj . S. Native of the West Indies, on calcareous 

 rocks. Flowers small, of a deep red colour, without scent. 

 Leaves long. Dodonaea, Plum. ed. Burm. t. 118. f. 1. I'lex 

 DodonaeX Lin. spec. 182. C. tricuspid&ta, Lam. act. par. 

 1784. p. 347. and C. ilicifolia, Lam. ill. t. 27. f. 2. C. angu- 

 losa, Willd. spec. 1. p. 188. Petioles puberulous. There is a 

 variety with angular leaves, not spiny. 



Var. /3, glabra (Schult. mant. 1 . p. 350.) leaves smooth on 

 both surfaces as well as the petioles. F? . S. Native of Porto 

 Rico. C. glabra, Spreng, syst. 1. p. 176. 



Holly-leaved Maiden Plum. Clt. 1778. Tree 20 feet. 



2 C. ACUMINA'TA (Moc. et Sesse, fl. mex. icon. ined. D. C. 

 prod. 2. p. 65.) leaflets sessile, lanceolate, acuminated, smooth, 

 somewhat cordate at the base, with 6-7 spiny teeth on each side. 



Tj . S. Native of Mexico. An intermediate species between 

 C. ilicifolia and C. dentata. Flowers dark red. Stamens op- 

 posite the petals in the figure quoted above. 



Acuminated-\ea.\eA Maiden Plum. Tree 20 feet. 



K2 



