THE AILANTHUS FAMILY. 293 



At Key West and other parts of southern Florida this graceful tree 

 attracts the attention, and we may here view it as' a type of the family to 

 which it belongs. It has perhaps attained its greatest renown among the 

 people through the cups and dippers made from its bitter wood and bark, and 

 from which invalids desire to drink, the reputed benefit being somcihing the 

 same as though they had taken quinine. Again, that its beauty is appre<-ialed 

 by the people seems to be voiced by its common name of Paradise Tree. 



AiUmthus glandulosa, Tree-of-Heaven, or Chinese sumac, a large and 

 well-known tree in this country, especially in cultivation, is, however, a native 

 of China. In the autumn the pistillate individuals are most beautiful as they 

 wave great bunches of fresh green or purple tinted samaras which gradually 

 turn to red and finally a dull tan before they fall and madly gamb(jl about in 

 search of a suitable resting place. The pollen from the flowers of the 

 staminate ones is reputed to be very noxious and the tree's sap regarded as 

 poisonous. 



THE riAHOQANY FAHILY. 



Mclidcccr. 

 MAHOGANY=TREE. 



Sivicthiia viahbgoni. 



Bark: dark reddish brown, broken into broad, thick scales. IVodi: hard, 

 reddish brown. Leaves : alternate, compound, al)ruptly pinnate with from six to 

 ten, opposite leaflets, which are ovate-lanceolate, unequal at the base, petiolale, 

 entire. Flcnvers : nearly perfect, growing in axillary panicles. Calyx: five-cleft. 

 Petals : five. Slamens .-'ten, the filaments united into a tube. Capsule : very large, 

 ovate, woody and containing many winged seeds. 



Another tree which helps to make up the distinctive growth of the Keys 

 of southern Florida is the mahogany ; one which few could pass without 

 wonder, especially when hung with its great woody capsules as large as 

 good-sized lemons. It produces moreover the true mahogany wood of com- 

 merce, of rich reddish brown, and long valued above most others in cabinet 

 work. In his Natural History of Carolina it was first described by Mark 

 Catesby. 



A connection of the mahogany, which many years ago was introduced into 

 this country by the elder Michaux, is the China berry, umbrella tree, or 

 pride-of-India, Meli'a azederach, now so familiar in cultivation about southern 



