Genus MELIA, Linn. 
Meliacese. 
Syst. Nat. 
Decandria Monogynia. 
Syst. Lin. 
Derivation. The word Melia is derived from the Greek meli, honey, and is the name in that language for the manna ash, 
which one species of this genua is thought to resemble. 
Generic Characters. Calyx small ; sepals 5, united below. Petals oblong, spreading. Stamen-tube 10- 
cleft at the apex, with 10 anthers in the throat ; the segments 2 3-parted. Ovary seated on a short 
disk, 5-celled, with 2 ovules in each cell, one above the other. Style columnar, breaking off from the 
top of the ovary. Stigma 5-lobed. Drupe ovate, with a 5-celled bony nut ; cells 1-seeded. Embryo 
enclosed within a thin, fleshy albumen. Cotyledons foliaceous. Trees, with bipinnate leaves. Leaf- 
lets toothed. Flowers in axillary panicles. Torrey and Gray, Flora. 
^HE species of the genus Melia are few, and mostly natives of Per- 
sia, India, and Japan. The half-hardy kinds are all deciduous 
trees, without visible buds, and appear to be peculiarly eligible 
for growing in the southern states of Europe and America, or for 
training against conservatory walls in the more northern parts 
of these countries. The species most worthy of culture, besides 
the Azedarach, are the Melia australis, a native of New Holland, and is said to 
grow to the height of twenty feet ; the Melia japonica, indigenous to Japan, and 
growing to the height of thirty feet; and the Melia buckayun,of Nepal. A tree 
described by some, under the name of Melia sem.pervirens, or Ever-green Melia, 
and known in the West Indies by the name of Indian Lilac, is said to grow 
sometimes to a height of twenty or thirty feet ; but others consider it as only a 
variety of the Melia azedarach. 
