86 
SWIETENIA FEBRIFUGA. 
Febrifuge Swietenia* 
Class Decandria. — Order Monogynia. 
Nat. Order. TRiHiLATiE, Linn. MeLim, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Calyx five-cleft. Petals five. Nectary cylin- 
drical, bearing the anthers at the mouth. Capsules five- 
celled, woody, opening at the base. Seeds imbricate, 
winged. 
Spec. Char. Leaves pinnate. Leaflets elliptical, roundish. 
Panicle terminal, divaricated. 
This tree is a native of the East Indies, growing in various parts 
of that vast territory, particularly near Chittwail, in the Cuddapa 
District ;f on the mountainous parts of Rajahmundry Circors, Peda- 
pore, and in the vicinity of Omedurdah. It is also a native of Siam. 
It is a very large, lofty tree; the trunk is straight ; the branches 
numerous at the top, so as to form a large shady head ; the trunk 
and branches are covered with a scabrous bark, of a grey colour; 
the leaves are alternate, and abruptly pinnated, composed of three 
or four pair of opposite, petioled, ovate, obtuse leaflets, each from 
three to five inches long, and from two to .three broad, the lower 
side extending a little further down the petioles than the upper side; 
the upper surface is smooth, shining, and of a bright green colour ; 
the flowers are very numerous, small, and nearly white, and furnished 
with minute bracteas ; the calyx is inferior, formed of one leaf, five- 
cleft, deciduous; the nectary about half the length of the petals, 
and bellied ; the corolla is composed of five ovate, concave, expanding 
petals; the filaments are very short, and inserted just within the 
* Fig. a, represents a flower magnified, b. A transverse section of the capsule. 
c. The capsule (both magnified.) 
The spike of flowers in our drawing represent the flowers of the natural size ; the 
leaves nearly one-third less than the natural size, 
t Ainslie's Materia ludica, vol. i. p. 125. 
