47 
Properties. Tlie fruit of Couroiipita guianensis, called Ahricot sauvage 
in Cayenne, is vinous and pleasant. The most gigantic tree in the ancient 
forests of Brazil is that called the Sapucaya. It is the Lecythis ollaria, the 
seeds of which are large and eatable. Pr. Max. Trav. 83. The fleshy seeds 
of all the species of Lecythis are eatable^ but they leave a bitter unpleasant 
after-taste in the mouth. The bark of L. ollaria is easily separable, by beat- 
ing the liber, into a number of fine distinct layers, which divide so neatly from 
each other, that, when separated, they have the appearance of thin satiny pa- 
per. Poiteau says he has counted as many as 1 10 of these coatings. The 
Indians cut them in pieces, as wrappers for their cigars. The well-known 
Brazil nuts of the shops of London are the seeds of Bertholletia excelsa. The 
lacerated parts of the flowers of Couroupita guianensis become blue upon ex- 
posure to the air. Poiteau, 1. c. 
GENERA. 
Lecythis, Loefl. Couroupita, Aubl. Couratari, Aubl. ? Touroulia, Aubl. fO) 
Eschweilera, Mart. Pontoppidana, Scop. Lecythopsis, Schrank. Robinsonia, Schreb. 
Bertholletia’ H. et B. Curupiki, Gmel. 
Order XXX. PHILADELPHACE.E. The Syringa Tribe. 
PhiladelphejE, Don in Jameson’s Journal, 133. {April 182C) ; DC. Prodr. 3. 205. 
(1828.) 
Essential Character. — Calyx superior, with a persistent limb, having from 4 to 10 
divisions. Petals alternate with the segments of the calyx, and equal to them in number, 
with a convolute. imbricate aestivation. Stamens indefinite, arising in 1 or 2 rows from the 
orifice of the calyx. Styles either distinct, or consolidated into one ; stigmas several. 
Capsule half inferior, with from 4 to 10 cells, many-seeded. Seeds scobiform, subulate, 
smooth, heaped in the angles of the cells upon an angular placenta ; aril ? loose, mem- 
branous. Albumen fleshy ; embryo inverted, about as long as the albumen ; cotyledons 
oval, obtuse, flattish; radicle longer than the cotyledons, superior, straight, obtuse. — 
Shrubs. Leaves deciduous, opposite, toothed, without dots or stipules. Peduncles axillary 
or terminal, in trichotomous cymes. Flowers always white. Fruit sometimes a little scurfy. 
Affinities. The genera of this order were formerly referred to Myrta- 
ceae ; and I think there is a dissertation by the late President of the Linnean 
Society, in which he endeavoured to shew the difficulty of distinguishing Lep- 
tospermum even generically from Philadelphus, — so little did his school at that 
time know of the method of pursuing botanical inquiries. Afterwards Don 
stated that their affinity was not so much with Myrtacese as with Saxifraga- 
cese, in which I formerly concurred. A more careful consideration of the mat- 
ter has induced me to adhere to the old views of affinity, and to consider Phi- 
ladelphaceae an order very nearly allied to Myrtacese, De Candolle points out 
an approach to Hydrangea. In many respects Philadelphacese are like Colu- 
meUiaceae, but in that order the corolla seems truly monopetalous, and the 
stamens are quite of another kind. 
Geography. Deciduous shrubs, inhabiting thickets in Europe, North 
America, the north of India, and Japan. 
Properties. Flowers often fragrant. 
GENERA. 
Philadelphus, L. Decumaria, I . 
Forsythia, Walt. Deutzia, Thunb. 
