MELIACEAE 21 13 



Cedrela sinensis Jussieu. 

 Shiang Chun. 



Tree 25 m. tall. Leaves often 25-60 cm. long, long petioled. Leaflets 

 10-22, opposite or subopposite, stalked, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, remotely serrate, unequally divided by tbe midrib, dark 

 green above, pale green below, 10-20 cm. long. Flowers white, fragrant 

 in long terminal, pendulous panicles. Calyx 5 lobed, rounded ; petals 5 t 

 oblong, converging at the apex. Stamens 5, alternate with 5 staininodes. 

 Ovary glabrous. Capsule oblong or ovate, about 2.5 cm. long, longitudi- 

 nally dehiscent. Seeds with a long oblong wing on the upper side. 



Central and Western China. Introduced into Europe and America. 



The feathery foliage and the compact habit of growth make this a 

 valuable tree for street planting. The young shoots are edible when 

 cooked as a vegetable. The wood is yellow-brown, banded with red, 

 used for high grade furniture and for interior finish, known to foreign 

 residents of China as " Chinese mahogany." 



Often confused with Ailanthus, which is distinguished by the few 

 glandular teeth at the base of the leaflets. 



MELIA 



Deciduous trees. Leaves bipinnately, tripinnately or pinnately 

 compound. Leaflets acuminate. Flowers in panicles. Calyx 5-6 parted, 

 short; petals 5-6, linear. Stamens 10-12, monadelphous. Ovary 3-6 

 celled; 2 ovules in each cell. Fruit a dry or fleshy drupe. Stone 5 

 celled. Seeds solitary in each cell. 



Asia and Australia. A small genus of probably not more than 2 

 species. Authors have founded several species, based upon slight 

 variations of foliage, size of inflorescence and fruit in the common and 

 widely distributed M. azederach, but the diagnostic characters exhibit all 

 degrees of intermediate gradations, making the species and varieties 

 untenable. The principal synonomy follows: 



Melia azederach Linnaeus. 



China Berry or Pride of India. 



(M. florida Salisbury; M. sambucina Blume ; M. australis Sweet ; M. japonica 

 G. Don ; M. bukayun Eoyle ; M. cochinchinensis Eoemer ; M. orientalis Koemer ; 

 M. toosendan S. & Z.; M. composita Bentham ; M. chinensis Siebold ; etc.) 



