BURSERACE^E. 



the petals and shorter than them. Disk cup-shaped, 10-cre- 

 nated at the margin. Ovary sessile, 5-celled : ovules 2 in each 

 cell, collateral, pendulous. Style very short. Stigma 5-angled. 

 Drupe globose, obtuse, 1-3-celled, the dissepiments (when pre- 

 sent) thick and fleshy; sarcocarp coriaceous, splitting into valves : 

 nuts (seeds ?) bony, very hard, solitary in each cell, covered 

 with an adhering arilliform fibrous pulp, marked externally with 

 a depression or hilum, swollen internally opposite to the hilum 

 or point of attachment of the placenta. Cotyledons foliaceous, 

 thin, intricately folded and chrysaloid : radicle superior, cylin- 

 drical, thick. Trees, producing resin or balsam. Leaves un- 

 equally pinnated, not dotted. Stipules none. Racemes or 

 panicles axillary. Flowers small, white, or yellowish-brown. 

 W. and A. chiefly. 



341. I. heptaphylla Aubl. guian.i. 337. t. 130. Hancock in 

 med. gaz. xx. 196. DC. prodr. ii. 77- Amyris ambrosiaca 

 Willd. sp. pi ii. 335. Woods of Guiana. 



A good sized tree. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnated ; leaflets in 

 2 or 3 pairs, ovate, acuminate, smooth, entire. Flowers axillary, 

 corymbose. The trunk yields a liquid limpid resinous fragrant sub- 

 stance, which according to Dr. Hancock is a valuable remedy for 

 coughs ; it hardens into a whitish resin. This writer gives Hyawa or 

 Haiawa for the native name ; according to Aublet it is Arou aou with 

 the Caribs. 



34-2. I. Aracouchini Aubl. 1. c. i. 345. t. 133. N. and E. 

 handb. iii. 128. I. heterophylla DC. prodr. ii. 77. Woods 

 of Guiana, near the source of the river Courou. 



A small tree. Leaves ternate or unequally pinnated with 5 pairs j 

 leaflets ovate, smooth, entire. Fruit in axillary and terminal racemes, 

 somewhat shorter than the leaves. Fruit greenish, with 2-3-4 coria- 

 ceous valves, enclosing a white sweet pulp which divides into 2-3-4 

 lobes each enveloping an angular stone. The wounded branches 

 yield an abundance of a yellowish, balsamic, aromatic liquid of a tere- 

 binthinous nature, which preserves its fluidity a long time, and consti- 

 tutes the Balsam ofAcouchi. The Caribs esteem it highly as a vulne- 

 rary. 



343. I. Icicariba DC. prodr. ii. 77. N. andE. handb. iii. 126. 

 Amyris ambrosiaca Linn.f. suppl. 216 ? Brazil. 



Leaflets 3-5, short-stalked, oblong, acuminate. Flowers clustered 

 in the axils, subsessile. The fragrant fennel-scented resin of Brazil 

 called Elemi is said to be produced by this tree, of which however little 

 appears to be known. De Candolle says Resin ofCoumia comes from 

 it ; but I do not find such a substance in books. 



344. I. Carana HBK. nov. gen. vii. 34. with trifoliolate and 

 pinnate leaves, and oblong acuminate smooth leaflets, shining on 

 the upper, white and mealy on the under side, found in the 

 missions of the Oronoco, yields the fragrant balsamic substance 

 called Caranna, according to most writers. Dr. Hancock is 



172 



