144 
FLORA OF ADEN. 
Species about 12. 
Distribiition : —Tropical Asia and Africa. 
1. Melia Azedaracli Linn. Sp. PL (1753) 384 ; Grab. Cat. Bomb. PL 
30 ; Harms in Engl. & Prantl Pflanzerifam. Ilf, part IV, 287, fig. 
160, A — L; Boiss. FI. Or. I, 954; Oliver FL trop. Afr. I, 332; Hook. 
FI. Brit. Ind. I, 544; Cooke FL Bomb. Pres. I, 205. 
Melia angustifolia Sebum. & Thonn. Beskr. Gum. PL 214. 
Melia australis Sw. Hort. Brit. ed. 2, 85. 
Melia Bukayun Royle Illustr. Bot. Himal. 144; Griff. Itin. Notes 
355, 403. 
Melia cocbinchinensis M. Roem. Syn. Hesper. 95. 
Melia Commelini Medic, ex Steud. Nomencl. ed. 2, II. 118. 
Melia composita Benth. FL Austral. I, 380. 
Melia florida Salisb. Prodr. 317. 
Melia guineensis G. Don in Lond. Hort. Brit. 168. 
Melia Japonica G. Don Gen. Syst. I, 680. 
Melia orientalis Mi. Roem. Syn. Hesper. 95. 
Melia sambucina Blume Bijdr. 162. 
Melia sempervirens Sw. Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 67; Roxb. Hort. 
Beng. 33; Fl. Ind. II, 395; Wall. Cat. 1252; Dalz. and Gibs. 
Bomb. FL Suppl. 15. 
Arabic name Ssile-asadiracht. 
'English names'. — Persian Lilac, Bastard Cedar, Bead Tree. 
Description : — A tree, reaching 40 feet. Leaves impari-bi- (or some- 
times tri-) pinnate, 9 — 18 inches long; pinnae opposite or alternate; 
ultimate leaflets 3 — 11, opposite or nearly so, £ — 2 by \ — 1 inch, ovate 
or lanceolate, acuminate, obtusely serrate, sometimes lobed, glabrous on 
both surfaces, slightly inequilateral at the base ; petioles short, slender. 
Flowers fragrant, lilac, in long peduncled axillary panicles which are 
shorter than the leaves and glabrous or sparsely puberulous ; pedicels 
slender. Calyx pubescent outside, divided nearly to the base ; lobes ovate- 
oblong, acute, ciliolate. Petals ■§ inch long, oblong-lanceolate. Stamina! 
tube purple, T 5 g- inch long, glabrous, slightly ribbed outside, faintly 
pubescent within, acutely 20-toothed ; anthers sessile, glabrous, apiculate, 
1 between each pair of teeth. Ovary glabrous, 5-celled. 
Drupe ellipsoid-globose, 4-seeded. 
Locality : — Shaikh Othman (DefL). Naturalized. 
Distribution : — Widly dispersed by cultivation in warm countries ; 
supposed to be indigenous in Baluchistan and the Jhelum Valley in 
Kashmir (Brandis). 
