CLASSIFICATION OF ANGIOSPERMS. 313 



Carapa Oil, which has a characteristic odor and bitter taste 

 and is toxic to insects, is obtained from the seeds of Carapa pro- 

 cera and C. guianensis, of tropical West Africa and tropical 

 America, and also from Stmetenia Mahagoni (Mahogany Tree). 

 Cedar-wood oil ("Oleum Cedrelae") is obtained from several 

 species of Cedrela growing in tropical America. The most impor- 

 tant constituent of the oils is cadinine. Oils with a garlic-like 

 odor are found in the seeds of Melia Asedarach, the bark of 

 Cedrela australis of Australia and the fruit of Dysoxylum binec- 

 tariferum of Java. Besides the Mahogany tree there are other 

 trees of this family which yield valuable woods. Cigar boxes and 

 sugar boxes are made from the wood of Cedrela odorata of the 

 West Indies and Guiana, and from other species of Cedrela. 



k. MALPIGHIACEiE is a rather large family of shrubs, 

 small trees, or lianes with anomalous stem-structure, found in 

 the Tropics, principally in South America. The leaves are usu- 

 ally opposite, the sepals are glandular, and the fruit is a winged 

 samara somewhat like that of maple (Acer). 



The plants contain a notable amount of tannin and the woods 

 of some species contain, a red coloring principle. 



1. POLYGALACE^ OR MILKWORT FAMILY.— The 

 members of this family are herbs or shrubs, occurring in all parts 

 of the world except in the Arctic regions. 



Polygala Senega is a perennial about ys M. high. It has 

 a fleshy root, producing at the crown a large number of buds and 

 giving rise to a cluster of stems or so-called plants (Fig. 197). 

 The leaves are alternate, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate and ses- 

 sile; the flowers are faintly greenish-white and in cylindrical 

 spikes ; the capsule is loculicidally dehiscent, and the seed is hairy 

 and slightly longer than the lobes of the caruncle. The root is of- 

 ficial (p. 456). 



Polygala alba or White Milkwort yields the White or Texas 

 senega.. The stems are numerous and taller tha;n those of P. Sen- 

 ega; the leaves., are narrow-lanceolate or linear with revolute mar- 

 gin; the flowers are white and in elongated conic spikes; the 

 caruncle lobes are about half as long as the seed. The plant is 

 found west of the Mississippi River extending as far south as 

 Texas and Mexico and west as far as Arizona and New Mexico. 



