258 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



Upas tree of the East, is the celebrated poison tree of tropical 

 America; it grows to the height of from 40 to 50 feet, and is 

 generally found near the seashore. The leaves are simple, 

 of an elliptical form, and shining, 3 to 4 inches in length. 

 The fruit is of a yellowish green colour, and very tempting 

 to the eye, but when bitten its acrid juice is very burning. 

 Many wonderful stories are told of the virulent nature of this 

 tree, even that it causes ill effects to persons lying under its 

 shade ; its milky juice is highly acrid and blistering to the 

 skin, and has caused blindness by the hands coming in contact 

 with the eyes after the plant has been handled. 



Sand Box Tree {Hura crepitans). A native of the West 

 Indies and many parts of tropical America. It forms a very 

 large tree, and has long been cultivated in the hothouses in 

 this country. Instances have been known of the juice of this 

 plant causing fatal injury to the eyes. The fruit is very 

 curious, being of a circular form, consisting of from 12 to 15 

 valved cells which give it the appearance of a wheel about 3 

 inches in diameter, each cell containing a single flat seed. It 

 is often kept as a curiosity, but with over-heat or dryness 

 bursts with a report as loud as a pistol, spreading its seeds 

 and valves to a distance of 15 feet. 



Tallow Tree {Stillingia sehiferd). A native of China, 

 where it is, as well as in India and some warm parts of 

 America, extensively cultivated. It is a small tree with rhom- 

 boid tapering leaves, and a 3-celled capsular fruit, each cell 

 containing a single seed thickly coated with a white greasy 

 substance that yields tallow, of which candles are made, and 

 has also been used in this country in the manufacture of 

 soap and as a substitute for linseed oil, also for dressing cloth 

 and burning in lamps. 



Candle Nut {Aleurites triloba). A tree about 30 feet high, 

 having simple lobed leaves, native of most warm countries 

 throughout India, Malay, Japan, and the whole of the islands 

 of the Pacific Ocean, where it is cultivated for the sake of its 

 fruit, which is about 2^ inches in diameter, and contains a 

 hard nut that yields a large quantity of oil which is exten- 



