MFLIACE^. 149 



\on^d,x\A ^Yioii; filaments dilated below. Z)^*/fc concave. Ovar;i/ s,es' 

 sile, 2-4-celled ; ovules 2 in each cell ; style short ; stigma 3-4-lobed. 

 Drupe ovoid, resinous, containing a 1-3-celled nut or 2-3 nuts. — 

 Species about 63, distributed over Tropical Asia and Africa, usually 

 in the desert tracts. 



Q. Myrrha, Engl., a small tree found in Arabia, is the source of the 

 true ' Myrrh. ' C. Opohalsamum, Engl, yields the ' Balm of Gilead .' It is 

 a small tree or shrub found in Trop. Arabia, Abyssinia and Somaliland. 



C. Mukul, Jingl. in DC^ Monogr. Phan. iv, 12. Balsamodendron Eox- 

 hurghii, Stocks; D. Sf G. Bomh. Fl. Stippl. 19 {not of Am.). B. Mukul 

 Huok. ex Stocks in Kew Journ., i, 259, t. 8. ; Brand. For. Fl. 64; F.B. I. i, 

 529. WoM E. D. Vern. Gugal. (Indian Bdelltim.) 



A small tree, or more usually a stunted bush,, with thick spreading 

 branches ending in a sharp spine. Leaflets 1-8, nearly sessile, obovate, 

 toothed at the end, smooth and shining. Flowers nearly sessile, a few in 

 each fascicle, 1-sexual, the male with a small abortive ovary, the female 

 -with short staminodes. Calyx cylindrical, glandular-hairy. Petals 4-5, 

 ligulate, longer than the calyx, recurved at the tips, brownish-red. Bisk 

 8-iO-toothed. Stamens 8-10. Stigma obscurely 2-lobed. Brupe red, 

 ovate-acuminate, containing two 2-celled stones, rarely 4-valved. 



Merwara, on rocky ground. Distrib. : Sindh, Katiawar, Rajputana, 

 Berar, Khandeish, Mysore ; also in Baluchistan. Flowers in March and 

 April. The gum-resin, known as ' Gugul,' exudes from incisions made 

 into the bark during the cold season. The medicinal properties of this 

 gum are fully described in Watt's Dictionary. 



XXXII.— MELIACE.^. 



TfiEES or shrubs. Leaves alternate exstipulate, usually pinnate, 

 Flowers hermaphrodite or polygamo-dioeceous, regular, usually in 

 axillary panicles. Calyx usually 3-6-lobed. Petals 3-6. Stamens 

 4-12, inserted outside the base of the hypogynous disk; filaments 

 united in a tube, or rarely free ; anthers erect, usually sessile on the 

 tube, included or exserted, bursting longitudinally. Hypogynous disk 

 annular, tubular or 0, free or connate with the ovary. Ovary usually 

 free, 2-5-celled ; style single ; ovules 1-2, rarely more. Fruii 

 capsular, drupaceous or a berry. Seeds with or without albumen, often 

 inclosed iu an aril. — About 300 species, mostly tropical, and widely 

 s iread over both hemispheres. 



The Mahogany tree {Swietenia Mahogani, L.) indigenous in C. America 

 and the W. Indies, was' introduced into India in 1796. The first experi- 

 ments were carried out in the Calcutta Botanic gardens under the 



