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Chapter XX. 



Order XX.— ANACARDIACE/E. Tlie Anacards. 



Chaeactek or the Obder. — Trees. Leaves alternate, 

 simple or compound, exstipnlate. Flowers regular, usually 

 small, unisexual or hermaphrodite. Caljx 3-7-fid or-partife. 

 Petals 3-7 or none. Disk usually annular. Stamens as many 

 as the petals, alternating with staminodia, or twice as many, 

 inserted on or at the base of the disk. Filaments free ; 

 anthers versatile. Ovary free in the female flower ; 1 or 2-5 



celled. In the male often of 4 imperfect carpels. Styles 1-3. 

 Ovule solitary, pendulous from a basal fimicle, or from the 

 wall, or top of the cell. Fruit superior, usually 1-5 celled; 

 drupe with hard putamen. Seed, exalbuminous; cotyledons 

 thick, fleshy; radicle, short. — Handbook of the New Zealand 

 Flora, p. 45. 



De,scription of the Order- 



'f^i AEGE tropical oi-dei-, rarer in temperate climates. When trees or bushes 

 have a resinous, milky, often caustic juice, dotless leaves, and small 

 inconspicuous floT\ers, with an ovary containing a single ovule suspended 

 at the end of an erect cord, it is pretty certain that they belong to 

 this order, of which more than 400 species are described. Among 

 the products of the order are the Mango fruit and the Hog Plum of the 

 West Indies ; the nuts named Pistachios and Cashews, the Black Varnish 

 of Burmah, and elsewhere— Mastic, Fustic, etc. These varnishes are extremely acrid, 

 and produce dangerous consequences to persons who use them incautiously. The name 

 of the order is derived from Amcardvmn, a genus of woody plants, which are chiefly 

 remarkable for their kidney-shaped fruit, which is placed on the end of the thickenetl, 

 fleshy, pear-like receptacle. The only New Zealand genus, Corynocarpus, is endemic. 



and allied to the Mango. 



In Australia the order is unknown. 



