ANACABDIACEAE. 



185 



SCHINUS. Pepper Tree. 

 ( Family Anacardiaceae ) . 



Tender round-topped rather 

 weeping trees, pungently aro- 

 matic, glabrous: evergreen. Twigs 

 slender, roundish, zig-zag: pith 

 rather small, more or less 3- 

 angled, continuous, white when 

 fresh. Buds superposed, the up- 

 per commonly developing pre- 

 cociously, round-ovoid or oblong, 

 much flattened, with 2 scales, the 

 end-bud absent. Leaf-scars alter- 

 nate, often 2-ranked, crescent- 

 shaped, slightly raised: bundle- 

 traces 3, large or often compound: 

 stipule-scars lacking. Leaves pet- 

 ioled, odd-pinnate with pointed 

 leaflets. Fruit glossy round 

 drupes of the size of peas, in 

 rather large panicles or racemed. 

 Broken leaflets, thrown on wa- 

 ter, are a source of interest, the 



explosive liberation of the volatile oil that they contain 



causing them to dart forward on the surface. 



Leaves of many leaflets: fruit panicled. (1). S. Molle. 



Leaves of about 7 leaflets: fruit racemed. S. Terebinthifolius. 



