Kit 



HM LUDA( I .1. 





{ 



\ 



^ 



Order CLXXI. AMI RIDACE.fi.— Air 



i n b taa • ' i I . . 2. 81 



K "" "" I • i 1818): A mill In ./;.,.. - 



8X1 '-'■ 81. (It KuiiM ,„ .(„„ 



OCXM ; • ;; lg4J 



DuoNot 'idaUd,! 



. 



Trees or drabs, abounding in balsam or resin. I ropposil 



or unequally pinnate, occasionally with stipules, and pellucid dots Flowi rs axillai . 

 terminal, in racemes or panicles, sometimes unisexual 

 bj abortion. Calyx persistent, somewhat regular, with 

 from 2 to S divisions. Pi i \, low a 



disk arising from the calyx ; aestivation usually valvate, 

 sometimes imbricated. Stamens twice as many as the 

 petals, all fertile. Disk orbicular or annular. Ovary 

 I- 5-celled, superior, sessile in or upon the disk; style 

 BoUtary and compound; stigmas as many as the cells 

 Of the ovary, and where thi re i- but one eel] capitate , 

 ovules in pairs, attached to the apex of the cell, anatro- 

 pal, collateral. Fruit hard and dry, 1-;, celled, with its 

 outer part often splitting into valvi la without 



albumen; cotyledons either wrinkled and plaited, or 

 amygdaloid ; radicle superior, straight, turned towards 



tile llillllll. 



These are plants with the appearant f < (ranges, and 



in the instance of Amj ris itself, with the dotted 1. aves 

 of that Order; nor have thev any positive marl, of dis- 

 tinction, except their fruit forming a shell whose 

 eventually splits into valve-like segments. In general, 

 however, the petals have a valvate aestivation ; and 

 Amyns, which wants that character, has only a one- 

 celled ovary. The genera collected under this name 

 are by uo means perfi ctij known, and demand a scru- 

 pulous revision. Copaifera and Myrospermum, placed 

 here in the last edition of this work, belong to the 

 Leguminous Order. In referring the genua Balanites 

 hither, [ do so without having had the opportunity of 

 examining it- fruit, the seeds of which are said to be albuminous its 

 calp \ ia certainly not valvate, as it has bi en described to be, but is truly 

 imbricated. 



What species have as yi I b< en asc< rtained are exclusivi U nati 

 tropical India. Africa, and Ami i 



It is here that we find the trees yielding myrrh and franlrini 

 i" sides which the specii - have all an abun- 

 dance of fragrant resinous juice. The 

 resin of Boswellia is as d in [ndia as 

 frankincense, and also :i s pitch. It i- hard 

 and brittle, and, according to Roxburgh, 

 ■ boiled with some low-priced oil to ren- 

 der it soft and tit for use. The native 

 doctors prescribe it, mixed with 

 (clarified butter), in cases of gonorrhoea, 

 and also in what they call Ritta Kadda] 



which signifies flux accompanied with bl 1. Tl 



Boswellia serrata, called Libanus thurifera bj I 



Ohbanum, a substance cliiefly used as a grateful u 



mutant, astringent, and diaphoretic proper! 



said to bo the produce of the same tree, but this isverj uncertain. Myrrh, or Hobali, 



'"W Marigi .'. I. a t! the same d 



unit . 4. n sectii □ ol tl same. 

 Fig. ( ( i \ XL— Embryo of Elaphrium . 



/ 





l ■ I XXI. 



\\ 



