TEREBINTHACE^. 223 



partite, persistent. Petals 3-4, long. Stamens 3-4, 

 short. Ovary 1 : style O: stigma 1. Drupe ovate 

 1 -celled, 1 -seeded : ovule subpendulous, fixed to the 

 fundus of the ovary by means of a funicle, curved at 

 the apex : albumen O : cotyledons thick : radicle su- 

 perior, curved De Cand. 



Trees, natives of equinoctial America, abounding in a gluti- 

 nous juice : leaves impari-pinnate ; flowers very small, shortly 

 pedicelled, purple. Name, from -/.o>j,ri hair, and y./.aSoj a 

 branch. 



1. Comocladia integrifolia. Maiden-Plum. 

 Leaflets petiolulated lanceolate entire glabrous. 



Prunus racemosa, caudice non ramoso, alato fraxini folio non 

 crenato, fructu rubro subdulci, Sloane, II. 131. t. 222. f. 1 

 Comocladia caudice simplici, Browne, 124. C. integrifolia, 

 Swartz, Obs. 26 Jacq. Amer. 12. Lam. 111. t. 27. f. 1. 



HAB. Common. 



FL. From December to the end of March. 



Stem usually about lOfeet or more in height, in general simple, 

 sometimes branched. Leaves towards the ends of the stem or 

 branches, impari-pinnate : leaflets sub-opposite, shortly petio- 

 lulated, lanceolate, abruptly rounded at the base, acuminate, 

 entire, glabrous. Panicles several, subterminal, lateral, com- 

 pound, patulous, each furnished at the base with a short thick 

 early deciduous scale. Peduncle elongated so as to render the 

 panicle of nearly the same length as the leaves, compressed : 

 branches compressed, coloured, puberulous. Flowers minute, 

 of a deep purple, very numerous, crowded, shortly pedicelled, 

 not unfrequently male from abortion. Calyx minute, 3-partite ; 

 divisions rounded. Petals 3, ovate. Stamens 3, alternating 

 with and shorter than the petals : filaments purple : anthers 

 yellow. Ovary minute. Drupe fleshy, of a deep purple, 

 marked above with 3 black spots. 



The whole tree abounds with a watery, but somewhat viscid 

 acrid juice, becoming black on exposure to the air, and staining 

 clothes and the skin black, indelibly in the former, and in the 

 latter only removed by the renewal of the cuticle. The wood 

 is said to afford a red dye. 



IV. PlCRAMNlA. 



Flowers direcious. Calyx 3- or 5 -partite. Petals 

 3, or 5, oblong. $ Stamens exserted, of the same 

 number as the petals. ? Ovary ovate : style O : 

 stigmata 2. Drupe ovate : nut 2-locular, 2-seeded. 



Lowly shrubs. Name, from xizpog bitter. 



