The principal other species of the bay or laurus 
are the geniculated, the whitish-leaved, Jove’s 
fruit, and Catesby’s, hardy, ornamental, decidu- 
ous shrubs ; the Benjamin tree and the Sassafras- 
tree, hardy, medicinal, deciduous trees; and the 
snow-white, the spreading, the strong-smelling, 
the pendulous, the aggregate, the shining, the 
leather -leaved, the bundle-flowered, and the 
thyrse-flowered bays, tender, ornamental, ever- 
green trees and shrubs ; and the Cogwood tree, a 
lofty, evergreen, timber-tree of the West Indies. 
But upwards of a dozen species, including the 
cinnamon, cassia, and camphor trees, which were 
formerly included in the laurel genus, are now 
assigned to the genus Cinnamomum.—A/iller’s 
| Dictionary—Loudon’s Hortus Britannicus—Mar- 
shall on Planting.— Thomson's Dispensatory. — 
White's Veterinary.—Anderson’s Commercial Dic- 
tionary. 
BEAD-TREE,—botanically Melia. A genus of 
_ ornamental trees, forming the type of the order 
Meliacee. The plants of this order constitute 
| fourteen genera; all are trees or shrubs; most 
are natives of the tropics; most have pinnated 
leaves; and all are distinguished by an unition 
of the stamens into a tube bearing the anthers. 
Nine or ten species of the bead-tree genus have 
been introduced to Great Britain, principally from 
the Hast Indies; and, excepting the azedarach, 
all these are ornamental evergreens. 
The azedarach, Melia azedarach, is a native 
of various districts of the East, from the Medi- 
terranean to the Ganges, and was brought to 
Great Britain from Syria, about the middle of 
the 17th century. It is a deciduous tree, ser- 
viceable for both its beauty and its timber; 
and attains a height of about 50 feet. Its 
trunk is covered with a grey bark; its young 
branches are green, smooth, and not numerous; 
its leaves are compoundedly pinnate, very large, 
and exceedingly elegant ;.its flowers are bluish, 
fragrant, beautiful, resembling those of our com- 
mon lilac, and are produced in long clusters, in 
the month of July, from the sides of the branches; 
and its fruit is oblong, about the size of a small 
cherry, green when growing, pale yellow when 
ripe, and consisting of an exterior pulp, and an 
interior nut or kernel. Tach leaf is from 18 
inches to two feet in length, and consists of very 
many leaflets, arranged into three wings; and 
each leaflet has its upper surface of a strong shin- 
ing green, its under surface paler, and its edges 
indented. Hach flower belonging to a cluster is 
separately small, and stands on a comparatively 
long footstalk. The pulp of the fruit is poison- 
ous, and, if mixed with grease and given to dogs, 
will kill them. The nut or kernel of the fruit 
has five deep furrows, and comprises four or five 
cells, each containing a seed; and, in Roman 
Catholic countries, it is collected in quantities, 
bored through, and strung into rosaries; and 
from this use of it arose the name of bead-tree. 
The azedarach is usually regarded as a green- 
BEAD-TREE. 
ip) 
307 
house plant in England; yet it has flourished ex- 
ceedingly well, and resisted the frosts of many 
winters, against warm walls, or even in well-shel- 
tered spots of open ground; and Hanbury even 
says, “I have planted it in an open cold expanse, 
in a naturally damp and moist soil, where it has 
flourished for more than seven years, and dis- 
played its foliage every summer, to the great 
pleasure of all beholders.” This tree is highly 
ornamental, enjoys great repute in many Roman 
Catholic countries, and well deserves attention as 
a magnificent embellishing plant, in sheltered 
spots of the southern or central counties of Eng- 
land. It is propagated from cuttings in sandy 
loam, or from seeds in pots, plunged into a hot- 
bed. It is usually called in Italy Pseudocycamo- 
rus, and in Spain and Portugal Zizyphus alba. 
The azadirachta, or evergreen and always- 
flowering bead-tree, Melia azadirachia, is a native 
of the East Indies, and was introduced to Great 
Britain about the middle of the 18th century. 
It grows to the height of 60 feet, and is appreci- 
ated in India for at once its beauty, its timber, 
and its economical uses. Its stem is thick, its 
timber is of a pale yellow colour, and its bark has | 
a dark purple colour, and a very bitter taste. Its 
branches extend far on every side; its leaves are 
pinnate, each wing consisting of five or six pairs 
of leaflets and a terminal one, and each leaflet 
oblong, acutely pointed, serrated, lightish green, 
strongly and very disagreeably flavoured, and 
standing on pretty long footstalks; its flowers 
are small and white, and are produced in long 
ramose panicles from the sides of the branches ; 
and the fruit is oval, about the size of a small 
olive, successively green, yellow, and purple,—the | 
pulp oily, acrid, and bitter, and the nut white 
and shaped like that of the azedarach. The tree | 
grows in sandy land both in Ceylon and in Hin- | 
dostan, and produces flowers and fruit twice a- 
year. The bark is regarded by the Hindoo phy- 
sicians as one of their most valuable tonics, and is 
usually exhibited in powder or in decoction, along 
with some aromatic, in cases of fever, of chronic 
rheumatism, and of almost every disease for which 
British practitioners employ cinchona. A fixed 
bitter oil, which is expressed from the ripe fruit, | 
is esteemed an excellent remedy against intestinal | 
worms, a good external application in cases of | 
foul ulcer, an effective liniment for rheumatisms, 
spasmodic affections, and certain kinds of violent | 
headache, and a valuable preventative of catarrh 
or fever from exposure to cold or damp. A par- 
ticular sort of toddy is prepared from the sap of | 
healthy young azadirachtas, and is sometimes | 
prescribed by the Vytians as a stomachic. The 
timber is both very compact and very durable, 
and is used for making bandy wheels, and for 
many other purposes. The leaves and the small 
branches are used in the worship of one of the 
Hindoo idols. 
Another evergreen bead-tree,—evergreen by 
specific name as well as by nature, d/elia semper- 
ae ne 
