58 XVIII. SIMAKUBE^. lAilanthus. 



Order XVIII. SIMARUBEiE. 



ShrulDS or trees, with bitter bark, pinnate leaves witbout stipules, and 

 simple bairs. Flowers small, generally unisexual, regular. Calyx 3-5- 

 cleft. Petals 3-5. Stamens bypogynous, inserted at the base of disc, as 

 many as petals, or double the number; filaments free; anthers 2-celled, 

 bursting longitudinally. Carpels more or less distinct, rarely conna,te 

 throughout; ovary 1-5-celled, generally one ovule in each cell. Fruit- 

 carpels 1-seeded.— Gen. PI. i. 306; Eoyle 111. 157 (Zanthoxylese) ; 

 Wight lU. i. 165, 169, 170. 



Stamens twice as many as petals. - 



Fruit of 1-5 flat foliaceous samara ; leaves pinnate . 1. Ailanthus. 



Fruit a 1-seeded drupe ; leaves 2-foliolate . • .• 2. Balanites. - 



Stamens as many as petals ; leaves pinnate . . 3. Piceasma. 



1. AILANTHTTS, Desfontaines. 

 Large trees, with alternate pinnate leaves approximate near the ends of 

 branches. Flowers polygamous, in large axillary panicles. Calyx small, 

 o-cleft; lobes imbricate. Petals 5, spreading, induplicate-valvate in bud. 

 Male flowers: stamens 10, inserted at the base of disc. Female flowers : 

 stamens none ; carpels 2-5, distinct, laterally compressed, 1 ovule in each ; 

 styles as many as carpels. Bisexual flowers with 2-3 stamens. Fruit con- 

 sisting of 1-5 flat, membranous, reticulate, linear-oblong samaras, each 

 with one flattish seed in the middle. Seed with scanty albumen, flat, 

 foliaceous, orbicular cotyledons, and a superior radicle. 



1. A. excelsa, Eoxb. Cor. PL t. 23; Fl. Ind. ii. 450; W. & A. Prodr. 

 150; Wight lU. t. 67. — Sans. Aralu. Vern. Arua, South Meywar; 

 MaruJc, Bomb. 



A large tree, leaves abruptly pinnate, more or less tomentose, commonly 

 8-12 in., sometimes 2-3 feet long; leaflets nearly opposite, 8-14 pair, ovate 

 from a very unequal base, often broadly falcate-lanceolate, deeply serrate, 

 often lobed. Flowers yellowish, in. axillary panicles, shorter than leaves. 

 Petals glabrous, ovate. Filaments glabrous, shorter than anthers. Sam- 

 aras lanceolate, pointed at both ends," with numerous promiaent parallel 

 nerves. (Eoxburgh figures filaments longer than anthers.) 



Indigenous in Central and South India, and extensively planted throughout 

 India as far north as Saharanpur. Leafless during the early part of the cold 

 season, the new leaves appear in March, April. PI. April, May. Easily propa- 

 gated by seed and cuttings. 60 to 80 ft. high, bark grey, wood soft, white, not 

 much Tised, except to make floats for fishing, pith large. 



A. glandulosa, Desf., which is at home in Japan (perhaps also in China), 

 and cultivated in Europe, differs by filaments longer than anthers, hispid 

 at the base, and petals woolly tomentose inside. The leaflets, which are 

 often 4 m. long, have generally 1-3 pair of rounded glandular teeth near the base, 

 trows rajpidly, throws up abundant root-suckers, and has on that account been 

 employed m plantations made to clothe barren, stony hills in the south of 

 France. Hardy in England. Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 122 ; Wight Ic. 1604 



A. malabarica, DC, a large tree of the Western Ghats, with thick roush 

 bark, is characterised by glabrous leaves ; leaflets lanceolate, entire ; filaments 



