MYRISTICA 



MYRSINE 



2095 



graft the nutmeg, so that a loss of this kind should not 

 occur again; the plan is, take young seedlings and graft, 

 by approach, the thinnest twigs of a female tree. 



WM. FAWCETT. 



2425. Myristica fragrans the nutmeg. The upper sprays are 

 from the staminate tree. ( X M) 



MYRMECODIA (murmekos, an ant: the ants nest 

 in excavations that they make in the great tubers). 

 Rubiacex. From 20-25 remarkable epiphytic sub- 

 shrubs of E. Asia and the Pacific Isls., sometimes 

 grown by the curious. They require the treatment of 

 epiphytic orchids. The plants are glabrous, with 

 4-angled thickish or fleshy branches: Ivs. crowded at the 

 ends of the branches, opposite, obovate; stipules per- 

 sistent, curiously transformed into scales: fls. small, 

 white, sessile amongst the Ivs. and modified stipules. 

 M. Antoinii, Becc. (M. echinata, Ant.). Tuber very 

 large, 6 in. or more diam., dull gray, tuberculate and 

 spiny: st. inclined and flexuous, 4-grooved, the ribs 

 covered with imbricating woody shields (stipules) : Ivs. 

 at top of st., 4 or 5 in. long, elliptic-ovate to obovate, 

 acute: fls. Kin. long, white, sessile on the ribs; corolla 

 clavate, 4-lobed. Torres Straits. B.M. 7517. G.W. 

 13, p. 117; 14, p. 524. L . H . B. 



MYROBALAN: One of the genus Myrobalanus, now referred 

 to Terminalia (which see). Myrobalan Plum: Prunus cerasifera. 



MYROXYLON (myrrh wood, from the scent). Syn. 

 Toluifera. Leguminbsse. A few balsam-bearing trees of 

 S. Amer., scarcely cult, horticulturally. Lvs. odd- 

 pinnate; Ifts. exstipellate, glandular-punctate: fls. more 

 or less papilionaceous, white or whitish, in axillary 

 simple racemes or paniculate at ends of branches; 

 calyx irregularly dentate; standard orbicular; 4 inferior- 

 petals subequal, narrow and free; stamens deciduous 

 with the petals, free or connate at base: pod stalked, 

 compressed, indehiscent, at the apex hardened and 

 1-seeded, the basal part long and narrow and 2-winged. 

 See also Toluifera. M. toluiferum, HBK. (Toluifera 

 Balsamum, Linn.). TOLU-BALSAM TREE. Tree, to 75 ft. 

 or more, with thick rough bark and a straight trunk: 



Ifts. 7-11, alternate, oblong and acuminate, quite gla- 

 brous, 2-3^ in. long: the balsam is secured from incis- 

 ions in the bark. M. peruiferum, Linn. f. PERU-BAL- 

 SAM TREE (but not the source of Balsam of Peru, which 

 is from M. Pereirx, of San Salvador). Beautiful tree: 

 Ifts. 9-13, ovate-oblong, alternate and emarginate at 

 the apex, entire, puberulous on the midrib and petiole, 

 punctate, l>-3 in. long: fls. in simple racemes 4-5 in. 

 long, long-pedicelled. L jj g 



MYRRHIS (from the Greek word for perfume). Um- 

 belliferse. MYRRH. One perennial herb native to 

 Europe and an immigrant to other countries, sometimes 

 grown in gardens for its pleasing scent and anciently 

 used as a flavoring in salads. In America Myrrhis is 

 represented by Osmorhiza (which some writers now 

 call Washingtonia), which is known as sweet cicely. 

 Two or three of the American plants have been named 

 under Myrrhis, but the genus is now excluded from this 

 country. It is closely allied to Chsrophyllum. Tech- 

 nical characters distinguish the two genera. 



The myrrh of the Arabs is the gum of Balsamoden- 

 dron Myrrha, a burseraceous tree which is now referred 

 to Commiphora; not in cult. 



odorata, Scop. MYRRH. SWEET CICELY of Eu. 

 Soft-hairy or pubescent, erect, branching, 2-3 ft.: Ivs. 

 thin and soft, 2-3-pinnate, with narrow-toothed or 

 pinnatifid lanceolate segms.: fls. small, whitish, in a 

 compound umbel which is devoid of a general involucre : 

 fr. J^in. long, longitudinally ribbed. Eu. Gn. 72, p. 18. 

 G.W. 15, p. 131. Herbage sweet-scented. Rarely 

 seen in this country, but interesting for its graceful 

 foliage; seed may be sown in autumn as soon as ripe, 

 and the plants will come up in spring; prop, also by 

 division; the plant persists for years. L, jj 3 



MYRSINE (an old Greek name for the myrtle, of no 

 application; the myrtle is Myrtus communis). Myrsi- 

 nacese. Shrubs and trees with coriaceous leaves and 

 whitish or yellowish small flowers, of tropical and warm 

 countries. 



As formerly constituted and accepted by botanists, 

 a genus of about 80 species: glabrous or tomentose: 

 Ivs. leathery, mostly entire: fls. small, sessile or pedun- 

 cled, in axillary or lateral clusters, polygamo-dicecious; 

 floral parts in 4-5's, the corolla-lobes imbricated in the 

 bud; anthers short and usually blunt: fr. a pea-shaped 

 drupe, dry or fleshy, 1-stoned; seed globose. The family 

 has been re-elaborated by Mez (in Das Pflanzenreich, 

 IV: 236 1902), and the genus Myrsine is restricted to 4 

 species in Asia and Afr. The species here described 

 then become Rapanea and Suttonia. 



A. Fls. with separate petals. (Suttonia.) 

 Lessertiana, A. DC. (Suttonia Lessertiana, Mez)- 

 Tree, 60 ft., with trunk to 2 ft. diam. with gray bark: 

 Ivs. elliptic to obovate, sessile 

 or short-petioled, obtuse and 

 mostly rounded at apex, 

 black-dotted above: fls. yel- 

 lowish, with reddish dots, in 

 fascicles in the older axils 

 and along the branchlets and 

 on projecting spurs; petals 

 broad-elliptic, twice longer 

 than calyx: drupe globose, 

 reddish or black. Hawaii; 

 intro. in S. Calif. 



AA. Fls. gamopetalous. 

 guyanensis, O. Kuntze 

 (Rapanea guyanensis, Aubl. 

 Myrsine Rapanea, Roem. & 

 Schult. M . floribunda, R. Br. 

 M.floridana, A. DC.). Gla- 

 brous shrub or small tree: Ivs. 

 3-4 in. long, mostly at ends 



2426. Nutmegs. The upper 

 specimens show the aril or 

 mace. The lower left speci- 

 men shows the nut after the 

 mace is removed. The lower 

 right specimen shows part of 

 the shell removed, disclosing 

 the nutmeg. ( X \i) 



