216 CHINESE ECONOMIC TEEES 



Spondias axillaris Roxburgh. 



Tree 25 m. tall. Leaves deciduous, alternate, odd pinnate; leaflets 

 9-13, opposite, lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, oblique at the 

 base, entire; petiolules short. Flowers polygamo-dioecious ; staminate 

 and pistillate, small, borne in many flowered, axillary panicles. Perfect 

 flowers larger than the unisexual flowers (7 mm. across) 1-3 (commonly 

 solitary) on short peduncles in an axillary raceme. Stamens 10; styles 

 0, short, erect; ovary 5 celled. Fruit a drupe, yellow when ripe, flesh 

 edible. Stone hard, ovate to obovoid, with 4 scars near the apex, 5 

 celled. 



A common tree in the valleys of western Hupeh and Szechuan. 

 Yunnan and Hongkong to Hainan. 



Var. pubinervis Eehder and Wilson, supposed to be distinct by its 

 pubescent or viUose leafstalks and leaflets, shows many gradations towards 

 the typical form, so that it can hardly be differentiated by the practical 

 botanist or forester. The fruits, known as Hsuan Tso, are edible. 



PISTACIA 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves evergreen or deciduous, alternate, trifoliate 

 or pinnate, without stipules; leaflets entire. Flowers small, dioecious, 

 apetalous, in axillary panicles or racemes, subtended by bracteoles. 

 Staminate flowers with 1-5 (mostly 5) parted or cleft calyx ; stamens 3-5 

 with a small disk. Pistillate flowers with a 2-5 parted calyx and sessile 

 ovary; style 3 lobed ; ovary 1 celled. Fruit a drupe with a bony endocarp 

 and more or less fleshy cotyledons. 



Nine species in the Mediterranean regions, China and Mexico. 



Pistacia chinensis Bunge. 



Tree 18 m. tall. Leaves deciduous, alternate, odd pinnate ; leaflets 

 11-13, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, entire, acuminate, about 8 cm. long 

 and 2 cm. wide, oblique at the base and short petiolate. Staminate flowers 

 in crowded racemes, 10-18 cm. long; pistillate flowers in branched 

 panicles, 18-22 cm. long. Fruit obovoid-globose, compressed, drupe-like, 

 about 6 mm. in diameter, scarlet at first, later turning purplish or blue. 

 •Central China. 



The foliage of this tree turns scarlet and orange in the autumn. The 

 young shoots and leaves are eaten aa a vegetable. The wood is close 



