AMYRIDACEiE. 



175 



ten, inserted under a torus. Torus a crenate ring around the base of the ovary. Style 

 one, caducous. Capsule triangular, 3-valved, 3-celled. Seeds solitary, winged. 



This genus, which was established by Dr. Roxburgh, is peculiar to India, 

 and has also received the name of Libanus from Colebrooke, from its Hebrew 

 appellation. The species are all large trees, and all afford a resinous juice, 

 and a wood which is heavy, hard, and durable. 



B. serrata, Roxburgh. — Leaves pinnate, leaflets serrated, pubescent. Racemes simple, 

 axillary. Petals ovate. Stamens inserted on the external margin of the torus. 



Roxburgh, PL Coromand. v. 3; Ainslie, Mat. Ind. i. 264; Stephenson 

 and Churchill, iii. 147 ; B. thurifera, Wight and Arnott, i. 174 ; Royle, Mat. 

 Med. 333; Lindley, Flor. Med. 171 ; Colebrooke, Asiat. Research, ix. 377. 



Description. — A lofty tree, with the leaves at the extremity of the branches. The leaves 

 are pinnate, consisting of about ten pairs of obliquely, oblong, obtuse, serrated, villous 

 leaflets, with a terminal one, some- 

 times opposite, sometimes alter- Fig. 96. 

 nate, on 6hort, round, pubescent 

 petioles. The flowers are in sim- 

 ple axillary racemes, shorter than 

 the leaves, numerous, small, 

 of a pale pink colour, and fur- 

 nished with minute bracts. The 

 calyx is small, five-cleft and 

 downy ; the petals are oblong and 

 spreading, villous externally, and 

 much longer than the stamens ; 

 these are ten in number, inserted 

 on the outer edge of a cup-shaped 

 torus or nectary, which is crena- 

 ted and fleshy, surrounding the 

 ovary ; the stamens are alternately 

 shorter, and support oblong an- 

 thers. The ovary is superior, 

 ovate, and bears a cylindrical style 

 with three lobed stigmas. The 

 fruit is a three-angled, smooth 

 capsule, having three cells opening by the same number of valves, and each containing a 

 single seed, which is broad, cordate at base, deeply emarginate, with a long slender point. 



This Boswellia occurs in some abundance in the mountainous districts of 

 Central India, and another species, the B. glabra, also affording a fragrant 

 resin of the same character as Oiibanum,is found in the northwestern parts of 

 the same country. These two species furnish the Indian drug, whilst that called 

 African, and imported from Egypt, and originally obtained from Arabia and 

 the eastern coast of Africa, is the product of a tree which is stated by Capt. 

 Kempthorne, (Harris, Highlands of 'Ethiopia, A pp. iii.,) to grow from the 

 bare rocks ; he says, " from the base of the trunk, and about treble its diame- 

 ter, a very round, thick substance is protruded, of a nature between bark and 

 wood. This adheres most firmly to the stone, and at a distance resembles a 

 mixture of mortar and lime. From the centre of the mass, the stem, having 

 taken a bend or course outwards of several inches, rises straight up to a height 

 of forty feet. It throws out at the top short branches covered with a bright- 

 green folliage, the leaves being narrow and rounded at the end, five or six 

 inches long by one broad, crimped like the frill of a shirt. From a foot to 

 eighteen inches is the usual girth of the stem, and it tapers gradually away to 

 the summit. The bark is perfectly smooth, and consists of four layers." 

 *« The inner of all is about an inch thick, of a dull, reddish hue, tough, not 



B. serrata. 

 1. Single expanded flower. 



