Ill 
Seeds without albumen ; cotyledons either wrinkled and plaited, or fleshy ; radicle superior, 
straight, turned towards the hilum. — Trees or shrubs, abounding in balsam, resin, or gum. 
Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate, occasionally with stipules, usually without pellucid 
dots. Floivers axillary or terminal, in racemes or panicles. 
Affinities. This order may be considered analogous in the syncarpous 
alliance to Amyridaceae and Anacardiaceae in the apocarpous, and hence al- 
though in a linear arrangement it is widely separated from these orders, yet it 
may be considered a case of transition from one alliance to the other. Its val- 
vate petals and few carpels place it near Rhamnaceae, and divide it indepen- 
dently of other circumstances from Anacardiaceae. 
Geography. Exclusively natives of tropical India, Africa, and Ame- 
rica. 
Properties. They have all an abundance of fragrant resinous juice, which 
is, however, destitute of the acridity and staining property of Anacardiaceae. 
The resin of Boswellia is used in India as frankincense, and also as pitch. It 
is hard and brittle, and, according to Roxburgh, is boiled with some low- 
priced oil to render it soft and fit for use. The native doctors prescribe it, 
mixed with ghee (clarified butter), in cases of gonorrhoea, and also in what 
they call Ritta Kaddapoo, which signifies flux accompanied with blood. The 
wood is heavy, hard, and durable. Ainslie, 1. 137. The Boswellia serrata, 
called Libanus thurifera by Colebrooke, produces the gum-resin Olibanum, a 
substance chiefly used as a grateful incense, but which also possesses sti- 
mulant, astringent, and diaphoretic properties. Ihid. 1.267. A kind of 
coarse resin is obtained from Boswellia glabra, and is used boiled with oil for 
pitching the bottom of ships. Ihid. The Bursera paniculata, called Bois de 
Colophane in the Isle of France, gives out, from the slightest wound in the 
bark, a copious flow of limpid oil of a pungent turpentine odour, which soon 
congeals to the consistence of butter, assuming the appearance of camphor. 
Brewster, 2. 182. The gum of Canarium commune has the same properties as 
those of the Balsam of Copaiva ; the three-cornered nuts are eaten in Java both 
raw and dressed, and an oil is expressed from them, which is used at table 
when fresh, and for burning when stale. The raw nuts are, however, apt to 
bring on diarrhoea. Ainslie, 2. 60. Balsam of Acouchi is produced by Icica 
acuchini. Gum elemi by Icica heptaphylla, Balm of Gilead by Balsamodendron 
Gileadense, Myrrh by Balsamodendron Myrrha, Opobalsamum or Balsam of 
Mecca by B. Opobalsamum, a substance like Gum elemi by Icica Icicariba, and 
Carana, and a yeUow concrete essential oil by Bursera acuminata. See further 
Royle’s Illustrations, p. 175. 
Boswellia, Roxb. 
Libanus, Colebr. 
Bursera, Jacq. 
Protium, Burm. 
GENERA. 
Canarium, L. • Marignia, Comm. Sorindeia, Thouars. 
Pimela, Lour. Dammara, Gaertn. Garuga, Roxb. 
Icica, Aubl. Colophonia, Comm. Hemprichia, Ehr. 
Balsamodendron, Kth. Hedwigia, Swz. 
Balsamea, Gled. 
Elaphrium, Jacq. 
Alliance IV. EUPHORBIALES. 
Essential Character. — Alstivation of calyx imbricated. Carpels fewer than four ; 
very often three. Hairs frequently starry if present. 
The reasons for considering Euphorbiaceae a polypetalous order are given 
under the proper head. The imbricated calyx completely separates this alii- 
