XXXIII. MELIACE^. 237 



9. CARAPA, Aubl. 



(C'tnmpa, its name in South America). 



(Zylocarpus, Kom.) 



Calyx small, 4 or 5-lobed. Petals 4 or 6, free, imbricate in the bud. Staminal 



tube urceolate, crenate or lobed ; anthers 8 or 10, within the summit. Disk thick, 



surrounding the ovary. Ovary 4 to 5-celled, with 2 to 6 ovules in each cell ; 



style short, with a large disk-like stigma. Capsule globular or ovoid, fleshy or 



woody, the dissepiments often disappearing. Seeds several in a compact mass 



round the remains of the central axis, large, thick, with a ventral hilum ; testa 



spongy ; cotyledons superposed, often united ; radicle dorsal. — Maritime trees. 



Leaves pinnate with entire leaflets. Panicles axillary. 



The species are few, ranging over the tropical seacoasts either of America and Africa or of 

 Africa and Asia. The Australian one belongs to the latter category. — Benth. 



1. C. moluccensis (also of the Moluccas), Lam.; DC. Prod. i. 626 ; Benth. 

 Fl, Austr. i. 387. Cannon-ball tree. A tree, glabrous in all its parts. Leaflets 

 4, rarely 2 or 6, opposite, ovate, obtuse, shortly acuminate or rarely acute, 2 to 3 

 or rarely 4in. long, somewhat coriaceous, more reticulate than in any of the 

 preceding genera. Panicles short, loose, and few-flowered, sometimes reduced to 

 simple racemes or with few divaricate branches. Calyx small, irregularly lobed. 

 Petals 4 or rarely 5, 2| to 3 lines long. Staminal tube crenate or splitting into 

 short lobes. Ovary very small, in the centre of a large thick depressed disk. 

 Ovules 2, 8, or 4 in each cell, excessively minute. Fruit often 3 or 4in. diameter, 

 irregularly globular. Seeds usually 4 to 6, large, irregularly shaped, closely 

 packed ; testa very thick, of a hard spongy consistence. — Xylocarpus Oranatum, 

 Keen.; Willd. Spec. PI. ii. 328. 



Hab.: Common along the tropical coast. 



Common on the seacoasts of tropical Asia, extending westward to E. Africa and eastward to 

 the Moluccas. It varies considerably in the more compact or loosei»iniioreseence, in the size of 

 the flowers, and in the teeth of the staminal tube. — Benth. 



Wood resembling Red Cedar, of close grain, prettily-marked ; a good cabinet wood. — Bailey's 

 Cat. Ql. Woods No. 68. 



10. CEDRELA, Linn. 

 (From Cedrm, the Cedar-tree.) 



Calyx small, 5-cleft. Petals 5, imbricate. Disk thick or raised. Stamens 4 

 to 6, inserted on the summit of the disk, alternating sometimes with as many 

 staminodia, filaments subulate, anthers versatile. Ovary S-celled, style filiform, 

 with a disk-like stigma ; ovules 8 to 12 in each cell, in 2 rows. Capsule 

 membranous or coriaceous, 5-eelled, opening in 5 valves, leaving the dissepiments 

 attached to the persistent axis. Seeds flattened, winged ; albumen scanty ; coty- 

 ledons flat ; radicle short, superior. — Tall trees, with coloured wood. Leaves 

 pinnate. Flowers small, in large panicles. 



The genus is spread over tropical America and Asia. The Australian species is a common 

 Asiatic one. 



1. C. Toona (Indian name), Roxh. PL Coram, iii. 33, t. 238 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. 

 i. 387. Red Cedar. "Mamin"and " Mugurpul," Brisbane; "Boolboora," 

 Forest Hill, Macartney: " Woota," Wide Bay; " Wanga," Herberton, J. F. 

 Bailey. A tall, handsome tree, quite glabrous or the young shoots minutely 

 pubescent. Leaves large, deciduous ; leaflets 11 to 17, opposite or irregularly 

 alternate, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 3 to 5in. long, oblique at the base, 

 petiolulate, membranous. Panicles large, pyramidal, many-flowered, glabrous. 

 Pedicels short. Sepals orbicular, ciliate, very small. Petals nearly 3 lines long. 



