MYR 



Ofl, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



MYR 



155 



rior; style filiform, longer thrn the stamina; stigma bila- 

 mellate. Pericarp: capsule long, two-celled, two-valred, 

 covered by the 1 permanent calix. Seeds : numerous, rery 

 small, viscid, adhering to the partition. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Calix: tubular, five-toothed. CorolH: one- 

 petalled, with an inflated mouth, and five-cleft border. Get* 

 wen: with five glands at the base. Stigma : bilamellate. Cap- 

 title: two-celled, two-valved, many-seeded. The only 



known species is, 



1. Myrmecia Tachia. This is a shrub, with a trunk of five 

 or six feet in height, thick at the base, and gradually dimi- 

 nishing as it ascends : it throws out here and there long, rough, 

 four-cornered branches, which are opposite and tubular ; at 

 each knot of these branches grow opposite leaves, disposed 

 crossways : they are ovate, sharp, perfectly entire, smooth, 

 tubsessile, and embrace the stem From the bosom of one 

 or other of these leaves proceeds a sessile flower of a yellow 

 colour. It generally happens that at the bosoms of those 

 leaves which do not produce flowers, a tear of yellow resin 

 makes its appearance. The hollow trunk and branches of 

 this shrub are commonly the retreat of a great many ants; 

 whence the natives call it Tachi, which in their language sig- 

 nifies an ant's nest. Native of South America. 



Myrodendrum; a genus of the class Polyandrii, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, five-toothed, acute. Corolla: petals five, oblong, 

 acute, spreading, much larger than the calix. Stamina: 

 filamenta twenty, capillary, inserted into the receptacle ; 

 antherse roundish. Pistil: german roundish, small, superior; 

 style long, curved inwards, villose ; stigma capitate, five- 

 lobed. Pericarp: five-celled. Seeds: solitary. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Corolla, five-petalled, spreading, much larger 

 than the five-toothed calix. Stigma, capitate, five-lobed. Pe- 

 ricarp, five-celled, with one seed in each cell. The only 



known species is, 



1. Myrodendrum Balsamiferum. This tree ia fifty or sixty 

 feet high, and two feet in diameter; the bark thick, reddish, 

 and rough; the wood hard and brown: it throws out from the 

 top several large branches, which divide into branchlets beset 

 with alternate, entire, smooth, green, firm, long leaves, ter- 

 minating in a point; these leaves are largest at their base, 

 where they partly embrace the branchlets : the young leaves 

 are reddish, those of the young trees are six inches long 

 and two broad. The flowers are borne in heads or clusters 

 from the bosoms of the leaves at the extremities of the 

 branchlets, and are of a white colour. The bark of this 

 tree affords a red balsamic fluid, resembling Styrax in scent : 

 this liqour, after it has exuded from the bark, becomes hard, 

 brittle, and transparent, and, when burnt, affords a very 

 agreeable odour. The negroes and the natives of Guiana 

 use the bark for the purpose of slips to make flambeaux. 

 The natives also use the wood in building their houses. The 

 Creoles call the tree Red Wood, the others call it Houmiri 

 and Touri. Aublet gays the resin might be used medicinally, 

 in the same manner as the balsam of Peru. 



Myrodia; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order Poly- 

 andna. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, turbinate, urceolate, coriaceous, toothless, bursting 

 at top into unequal teeth, permanent. Corolla: petals five, 

 inserted into the receptacle, narrower below, oblong, oblique, 

 blunt, from spreading recurved, longer than the calix. Sta- 

 mina: filamenta uniting into a long slender tube, widening 

 at top, plaited, five-toothed, sheathing the style ; anther* 

 nine to fourteen, kidney-form, clustered towards the top of 

 the tube, sessile. Pistil: german ovate, in the base of the 

 calix: gtyle filiforum, thickened at top, plaited, a little longer 

 79. 



than the filamenta; stigma large, capitate, or two-lobed. 

 Pericarp: drupe subglobular, dry, stupaceous, with a refuse 

 top, umbilicate with the remains of the style, two or three 

 celled. Seeds: solitary, angular on one side, convex on the 

 other. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix, simple, one-leafed. 

 Corolla., nve-petalled. Anthera: undivided. Drupe: dry, 

 inclosing two nuts. -The species are, 



1. Myrodia Turbinata. Leaves elliptic; calices tuibinate, 

 somewhat silky within. This is a tree, from 30 to 50 feet 

 high. Native of the West Indies. 



2. Myrodia Longiflora. Leaves oblong; calices cylindric, 

 villose within; column of stamina very long. This is a shrub, 

 about six feet high, with a trunk of three or four inches in 

 diameter: the bark is grayish, and chapped; the wood white, 

 and of a slight texture. Native of Guiana. 



Myrosma; a genus of the class Monandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth superior, 

 double; outer three-leaved; leaflets equal, membranacfcous, 

 oblong, channelled, quite entire; inner three-parted; seg- 

 ments equal, spreading, oblong, quite entire, with a dusky 

 spot at the top. Corolla : one-petalled, unequal ; tube very 

 short; border five-parted ; the two upper segments shorter, 

 oblong, unequally emarginate; the three lower longer, trifid 

 at the top, and gashed; the middle one shorter. Stamina: 

 filamentum one, free, or growing to the margin of the middle 

 division of the lower segment of the corolla, membranaoeous 

 at the base, awl-shaped ; antherce ovate, compressed. Pistil, 

 german three-sided, inferior; style thick, bent down, short, 

 three-cornered, cloven longitudinally, hirsute before; stigma 

 open, with the lip dilated. Pericarp: capsule three-celled, 

 three-valved, three-cornered. Seeds: several, angular. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: double; outer three-leaved, 

 inner three-parted. Corolla: five-parted, irregular. Cap- 

 sule,: three-cornered, three-celled, many-seeded. The only 



known species is, 



1 . Myrosma Cannoefolia. Root horizontal, ascending ob- 

 liguely at top, fleshy, ovate, short, slightly compressed, as in 

 Amomum, girt with rings, covered with alternate, embracing, 

 ovate, appressed, broad, fibrous sheaths; leaves, oval, smooth, 

 veined; stems or scapes round, somewhat hairy, ending in 

 a joint; from the top of the stem arises a foots'talk bearing 

 eight or ten flowers, resembling the catkin of the Hop. 

 Native of Surinam. 



Myroxylum; a genus of the class Decandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, bell-shaped, five-toothed, permanent, with very small 

 obsolete teeth. Corolla: petals five, unequal, inserted into 

 the receptacle; the uppermost wide, ovate, obcordate, reflex, 

 the rest narrow, lanceolate, straight, scarcely spreading; 

 claws narrow, linear, the length of the calix. Stamina: 

 filamenta ten, filiform, smooth, pressed to the germen, the 

 length of the calix; antherae erect, lanceolate, grooved, ter- 

 minating in a short point. Pistil : germen superior, longer 

 than the flower, hanging down from it, sabre shaped, com- 

 pressed ; style ascending, short, filiform ; stigma blunt, sim- 

 ple. Pericarp: legume sword-shaped, narrowed at the base, 

 widening towards the top, ancipital, not opening. Seed : 

 single, round, compressed, in the top of the legume. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix, bell-shaped. Petals, five, 

 the uppermost larger. German, stalked, longer than the co- 

 rolla. Legume, one-seeded. The only known species is, 



1 . Myroxylum Peruiferum ; Balsam Tree of Peru. A very 

 beautiful tree, with a smooth thick bark, which is very resi 

 nous, as indeed are all its parts. 'The leaves are alternately 

 abruptly pinnate; leaflets in two pairs, mostly opposite, ovate- 

 lanceolate, with the end produced blunt, emarginate. The 

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