202 



XIJ. ANAOARDIACEvE 



MelanorrJiosa 



cap. Petals 5-8, im- 

 bricate, linear- 

 oblong, persistent 

 and, as a rule, much 

 enlarged in fruit. 

 Stamens 5 or numer- 

 ous, inserted on a 

 thick hemispheric or 

 columnar disk. 

 Ovary stalked, ob- 

 lique, 1-celled. Fr. 

 a dry drupe, more 

 or less stalked. 

 Species 6, Indo- 

 Malayan. 



1. M. usitata, 

 Wall. PL As. Ear. 

 t. 11, 12; Brandis 

 in Ind. Forester, i. 

 (1876), 362. Vern. 

 Thitsi, Burm. 



A large deciduous 

 tree, yields the black 

 Burmese lacquer or 

 varnish from inci- 

 sions made into the 

 bark, while the tree 

 is in leaf. Branch- 

 lets, petioles, under- 

 side of leaves and panicles softly tomentose. L. obovate or oblanceolate, 

 blade 9-12, narrowed into a thick almost winged petiole |-1 in. long. PI. 

 white, petals pubescent, stamens many. Drupes red, ^-| in. diam., stalk thick, 

 ^ in. long, supported by the oblong stellately spreading, enlarged petals, 2-4 in. 

 long. 



Burma, Upper and Lower, chiefly in Eng forests. Fl. January-March. Siani to 

 the Mekong river. M. laccifera, Pierre Fl. For. Cochinch. t. 367, Cambodia, Cochin- 

 china, yields a most valuable varnish, grows very rapidly, and can be tapped when two 

 years old. Might be cultivated in Burma. 2. M. glabra, Wall. PI. As. Ear. t. 283, 

 Tavoy, Mergui. L. glabrous. Drupes on slender stalks 1-1J in. long. Fruiting petals 

 linear or spathulate, 2-2J in. long. 



Fig. 89. — Melanorrhcea usitata, Wall. I. 



8. SWINTONIA, Griff.; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. 26. 



Evergreen trees. Leaves simple, quite entire, petioles long. PL bisexual 

 or unisexual, in large terminal and axillary panicles. Calyx small, deeply 5-6- 

 cleft, lobes rounded. Petals 5-6, persistent and much enlarged in fruit. 

 Stamens 4-5, inserted on the thick fleshy disk. Drupe ovoid, coriaceous, not 

 stalked, subtended by the enlarged petals. Species 7, Indo-Malayan. 



1. S. floribunda, Griff. Proc. Linn. Soc. i. (1846), 283.— Syn. S. Griffitlin, 

 Knrz (1870), comprises probably S. Schwenckii, Kurz F. Fl. i. 316. Vern. 

 Thayet san, Burm. 



A lofty tree, entirely glabrous. L. lanceolate, blade 4-6, petiole very 

 slender, 1-1-J- in. long, sec. n. 16-20 pair. Fl. pale-yellow, in dense masses. 

 Drupe sessile, supported by the enlarged reflexed linear-lanceolate purple 

 petals, which are 2 in. long. 



Chittagong hills. Pegu Toma, rare. Martaban and Tenasserim, common near the 



