Illustrations of Indian Botany, Vol. 1/Terebinthaceae

by Robert Wight

LIV.-TEREBINTHACEAE.

As now constituted this is a large order of plants consisting of trees and shrubs, for the most part abounding with Balsamic resinous juices, but differing so much among themselves, both in their properties and Botanical characters, that it is almost impossible to bring them together, as one well digested order, by any combination of characters not including nearly as many negative as there are positive marks. To avoid this difficulty, which would have appeared more striking where there are so few to be described, we, in our Prodromus did not attempt to give a character of the whole order, but only of these sections or suborders appertaining to our flora. By this means, aided by the removal of the tribe Connaracece as a distinct order, and of Toddalia and Ailanthus to Zanthoxylacece, the Indian branch of the order, as it now stands in our

work, is, I believe, as nearly correct as our present imperfect knowledge of the tribe enables us to approach. The whole order certainly requires revision, and it is to be hoped some European Botanist, favourably situated for the performance of the work will undertake to supply this Botanical desideratum. In the mean time, it may be observed, that, the order as left by Kunth and DeCandolle has been completely broken by Barrling and Lindley, while it has been preserved entire by Meisner, though, with the works of both these latter authors before him. Bartling does not depart very widely from DeCandolle for he groups the whole under his class, Terebinthaceae : the definition of which however can be of little use in practice as its negative and positive characters nearly balance each other. It has the segments of the calyx imbricated (they are valvate in Burseraceae which he unites with Amyrideae) petals and stamens definite, hypogynous or sub-perigynous : ovaries 1-5 distinct or united (Ochna one of his Terebinthaceae has sometimes as many as 10.) Pericarp double, the laminae separating spontaneously or divisible : seeds albuminous or exalbuminous. Embryo straight or curved. Leaves compound or simple, often with pellucid glandular points—every positive has here its saving negative, hence it can be of little value, in doubtful cases, in practice, even though, with one or two exceptions, the orders ranged under it have many very striking affinities, and form upon the whole, in their properties a natural group—they are—Ochnacece, Semarubece, Zantlioxylacece, Diosmeae, Butaceae, Zygophylleae, 'Auraniiaceae, Amyrideae, (our Burseraceae) Connaraceae, Cassuvieae, (our Anacardiaceae) and doubtfully, Juglandeae —(the walnut family). This arrangement has the advantage of forming in some respects a very natural group, but has the disadvantage, of bringing together a number of orders, the Botanical characters of which are so far at variance as to render them in other respects badly associated. Dr. Lindley's distribution seems to me to be subject to similar objections, but on this point I would speak with much reserve, for, from having been long accustomed to view their connections in one light I may not be able to recognize them when placed in a different.

Meisner retains the order as left by Kunth and DeCandolle with the exception of a few genera referred to Zanthoxylaceae. He distributes the order under two primary divisions, namely—1st, those having a single ovary or at least containing only one perfect cell : and 2dly, those with a many-celled ovary or with several distinct perfect ovaries.

The first of these divisions he again divides into three subdivisions or tribes, Juglandeae, Amyrideae, and Cassuvieae. The last, which is the only one of the three having reference to the Botany of this portion of India, is distinguished : by having several ovaries but all except one aborting, the perfect one having but one ovule : flowers usually unisexual, rarely apetalous; stamens perigynous ; filaments free or united at the base ; indehiscent, drupaceous fruit, and pendulous, or rarely ascending, exalbuminous seed. The leaves, except in Bouea, (an Indian genus) alternate, simple or compound, exstipulate.

This tribe is divided into two subtribes Sumachineae and Anacardieae—the first is distinguished by having foliaceous or flat, not thick fleshy, cotyledons, the last by the cotyledons being thick and fleshy. To the former of these tribes Odina and Rhus of our flora belong, to the latter Sorindeja, Pegea, (a genus omitted in our Prodrornus as not being a native of the peninsula) Solenocarpus, Holegarna, Bouea, Meisner (a native of India but so far as I am aware not of the peninsula) Mangifera, Semecarpus, Buchanania, Melanorrhaea (Wall.) and Anacardium.

The second primary division is also subdivided into three tribes Spondiaceae, Burseraceae, and Connaraceae. In Spondiaceae, the cells of the ovary have one ovule—in Burseraceae they have two collateral pendulous ovules, and in Connaraceae the cells themselves are distinct with two ovules in each, but they have been already disposed of as a distinct order. Spondias is the only genus found in this part of India referable to the first of these tribes : to the second Boswellia Idea Balsamodendron, (second section of our Protium) Protium Garuga and Casarium belong. Such is a brief but I fear imperfect exposition of the order as it relates to Indian Botany, given in the most recent work to which I have access, from which it will be seen, on a comparison with our distribution, that it is nearly the same throughout, so far as our work extends.

With the slender materials in my possession I cannot venture to give a complete character of an order, embracing according to Meisner, six tribes and upwards of 60 genera, I shall therefore content myself with copying from our Prodrormus for the benefit of those who may not have access to the work itself, our characters of the three suborders under which we have distributed the order, each of which may, in some measure, be looked upon as a distinct order, and is so viewed by both Bartling and Lindley,

"Suborder 1. Anacardieae (Br.) Flowers usually unisexual. Calyx usually small, 5- (sometimes 3-4-7-) cleft; the fifth segment superior. Corolla regular. Petals equal in number to the divisions of the calyx (sometimes wanting), perigynous : aestivation imbricative or rarely valvular. Stamens equal in number to the petals and alternate with them, or twice as many or more : filaments distinct or cohering at the base, perigynous. Torus (in the free ovary) fleshy, usually discoid (annular or lobed or cup shaped), or at first inconspicuous but afterwards enlarged into a gynophore. Ovarium solitary (of 1-5 carpels, distinct or united, but all abortive except one) free, or rarely adhering to the calyx, I -celled (or sometimes with two additional abortive cells, the remains of the imperfect carpels) : ovule solitary, attached to a podosperm which always arises from the base of the cell, but is frequently adnate to one of its sides to near the apex: styles usually 3 (or occasionally 4), rarely 5, usually distinct, very rarely combined: stigmas as many. Fruit l-ce!led, indehiscent, usually drupaceous. Seed ascending, or more frequently pendulous. Albumen none. Radicle superior or inferior, next the hilum (very rarely at the opposite extremity) sometimes curved suddenly back : cotyledons thick and fleshy or leafy. Trees or shrubs, with a resinous, gummy, caustic, or milky juice. Leaves alternate, not dotted, without stipules."

Suborder 2. Spondleae (Kunth.) Flowers sometimes unisexual. Calyx 5-cleft, regular. Petals 5, equal ; aestivation between valvate and imbricate. Stamens 10, perigynous, distinct. Torus large, discoid. Ovarium superior, sessile, 2-5-celled : ovules solitary, pendulous : styles, 5 short : stigmas obtuse. Fruit drupaceous, 2-5 celled. Seed solitary in each cell. Albumen none. Radicle pointing to the hilum : cotyledons plano-convex. — Trees. Leaves imparipinnate, alternate, not dotted, exstipulate.

Suborder^. Bursereae (Kunth.) Flowers usually bisexual. Calyx persistent, somewhat regular, 2 5 divided. Petals 3-5. equal : aestivation usually valvular. Stamens two or four times as many as petals, distinct, perigynous. Torus orbicular. Ovarium 2-5 celled, superior, ses^i'e : ovules in pairs, collateral, suspended : style one or none : stigma simple or lobed. Fruit rarely a hard capsule; usually drupaceous, 2 5 celled, its outer portion or sarcocarp often split- ting into valves. Seed solitary. Albumen none. Radicle straight, superior, next the hilum : cotyledons fleshy, or wrinkled and plaited. — Trees or shrubs abounding in balsam, gum, or resin. Leaves alternate, usually, not dotted, generally with stipules.

Affinities. Supposing the order broken up in the manner proposed by Brown, Lindley, Bartling, and others, then the various orders into which it is divided stand in a nearly equal relationship to each other. In addition to these affinities Spondiaceae associates, according to Lindley, with Meliaceae and Aurantiaceae in the imbricated aestivation of the calyx and in having more than four carpels, but are distinguished by their perigynous stamens ; while Bur- seraceae are allied to Rhamneae in the valvate aestivation of their calyx and in having fewer than four carpels. Anacardiaceae and Amyrideae differ from each other the absence of pel- lucid or glandular dots in the leaves of the former, while they are present in the latter. By this last character Amyrideae associate with Aurantiaceae, Rutaceae, and Zanthoxylaceae, with which they are still further associated by their hypogynous stamens.

Geographical Distribution. The order in its most extended sense may be said to be of tropical origin, a few species only of Pistacia and Rhus being found in the south of Europe, in the warmer parts of North America and the Cape of Good Hope. Within the tropics, and in the warmer latitudes on either side, they are of frequent occurrence in Asia, Africa, and America; while a very few are met within Australia. Of the number of genera enumerated by Meisner, excluding Connaracecie, amounting to about 65 (many of which are marked with a doubt as to their right to a place in it) the peninsular flora contains about 1G or quarter of the whole, and probably more will be found when the country is better explored. But of that long list of genera we have only 23 species, that is, including Pegia, which we have not introduced into our flora. Wallich's list is very imperfect as regards this order, including only about 25 species. Blume has 23 for Java, excluding Zanthox ylaceae which he includes in the order.

Properties and Uses. These are abundantly varied but for the most part dependent on the Balsamic or acrid or even poisonous qualities of the resinous juices with which nearly the whole abound, and from which the order derives its name. To arrive at a clearer understand- ing of the properties of this extensive class it seems requisite in considering them, to treat separately of those of its different divisions.

Anacardieae. To this suborder belongs Semecarpus anacardium, the well known mark- ing nut of India. The juices of this tree are very acrid and injurious to those who work on the wood, while that of the nut applied to the skin causes inflammation and blisters. It is used as a remedy against Rheumatism and sprains. The- receptacles of the fruit of Anacardium ocidevtale or cashew- nut, are eat like apples, and the fruit itself after being freed from the acrid shell by burning, makes an moderately good substitute for almonds, and is very often used as such. The Mango also belongs to this tribe but does not require notice here, being generally well known. This fruit when freely used is said to excite boils and other inflammatory affections of the skin, but, so far as my own experience extends, I am disposed to attribute these ailments to the heat of the season rather than to the fruit, as I have seen hundreds of instances where they occurred during the hot season before a single Mango had been eat, and afterwards disappear when they were being largely consumed.

The Rhus or Sumach family have been long celebrated for their acrid poisonous properties. R. toxicodendron and R. venenata afford striking examples of these qualities. It is said that merely handling the leaves of the former is sufficient to cause a crop of vesicles, and expo- sure to the volutile emanations that take place from both trees has been known to excite in sus- ceptible persons severe indisposition, or they have had their bodies covered with a crop of pustules. The two species of Rhus, natives of India, are not endowed with these acrid properties, at least I have never experienced any such effects though I have frequently been most freely exposed to and handled both, nor have I ever heard of any one being so affected by them. Notwithstanding these poisonous properties R. toxicodendron is a good deal used in medicine, especially in dropsical, and supposed Consumptive cases. Stagmarea a native of the eastern Islands, and Holigarna a native of Malabar, are said to possess similar properties, and these of a very acrid poisonous character. The juice of both is employed as a varnish or lacquer, that of the former is very much used by the Chinese and Japanese for var- nishing all kinds of wooden articles, the elegance of which causes them to be dispersed to all parts of the world. The juice of the Holigarna is used for lacquering shields in Malabar. For a very full and interesting account of Stagmarea see " Companion to the Botanical Magazine, vol. 1 page 267-8." The juice of Melanorrhaea Wallich, so called from the dark coloured juice which exhudes from wounds in its bark, is employed for similar purposes in the Tenaserim provinces, a full account of which is given in Wallich's Plant: Asiat : Rariores : Pistacia the last genus which I shall mention, found in Syria and along the shores of the Mediterranean, affords from two of its species, P. terebinthus and P. lentiscus, the well known Cyprus turpen- tine, and still better and much more extensively used ' Gum Mastich,' so famed as a masticatory for whitening and preserving the teeth. From this slight enumeration, which does not nearly embrace the whole, it will be seen that this suborder includes a large proportion of interesting and useful trees.

Spondiaceae. The fruit of Spondias mangifera is eatable — so is that of some of the West Indian species, wheie they have received the name of hog's plums. From wounds in the bark of & mangifera a large quantity of a very pure gum flows, which is, I believe, collected and currently sold in the Bazaars as gum arabic, which it greatly resembles. In this product, this suborder differs widely from all the others of the order, and combined with its Botanical pecu- liarities goes far to justify its separation as a distinct order. Rheede, in Hortus Malabaricus, attributes many valuable properties to this tree which seem to be either imaginary or generally unknown, as I have never in a single instance heard of its being used medicinally. Roxburgh states that the young fruit is made into pickles, tarts, &c.

Burseraceae. The products of this tribe are much more highly esteemed than those of either of the preceding — among those we find Myrrh, Copaiva, Olibanum, Balm of Gilead, Frankincense, &c. The fragrant unirritating balsamic qualities of all these substances, so very remote from the acrimony of those, the produce of Anacardiaceae, mark these trihes as not very correctly associated in the same natural order, and go far to confirm the propriety of their separation not merely as tribes of one larger order, but as distinct orders. The Peninsular flora embraces several species of this tribe, some of them affording useful products. The resinous juice of both species of BomoeUia is collected, and is used partly as frankincense and partly as pitch. That of Can avium commune has properties similar to Copaiva, while the kernels of the seed, on the other hand, afford by expression a bland edible oil. The Can avium stvictum Roxb. is known in Malabar under the name of the black dammer tree, in conh-adistinction to the f r atevia or white dammer. This tree is- rather common in the alpine forests about Courtal- lum in the Tinnevelly district, and is there regularly rented for the sake of its dammer. The dammer is transparent and of a deep brownish yellow or amber colour when held between the eye and the light, but when adhering to the tree has a bright shining black appearance. The flowers of this species 1 have not seen, the fruit is a very hard, 3-celled, oval nut, tapering at each end.

Of the species of the genus Pvotium, of which the Peninsular flora embraces 4 or 5, I have not heard that any are in this country turned to a useful purpose. The three first in our list, to which the genus is now restricted, are all jungle trees, with soft very fragile wood, but so far as I recollect, never exhuding resinous juices — the fourth, Balsamodendvon (Protium) G'deadense though a most common plant in some parts of the country, and con- stantly used for making fences, I found to be totally unknown here, as the plant producing the balm so highly esteemed and cherished, ' as one of the riches of Arabia.' This circum- stance led me to suspect either, that the so-called plant of India was not the same species as the Abyssinian and Arabian one bearing the same name, or that some other plant produces the Balsam. Which of these was the more probable conjecture I was unable to say, but sus- pected the latter, as Heudelotia, an African genus, (proposed by the authors of the Flora Sene- gambias) but generically quite identical with Balsamodendvon, though a common shrub in Senegal is not mentioned as affording Balsam. This question has been at length settled by Dr. Arnott, who has ascertained that the Indian and Arabian plants are not identical. Then the question now presents itself, is it desirable that we should attempt to introduce both the Myrrh and Balsam of Gilead plants since both are natives of the same tracts of country, and both afford produce of great commercial value ?

Remarks on Genera and Species. My recent collections have furnished me with what I consider a new species of Semecarpus and one of Buchanania, besides specimens of a plant re- ferable to neither, nor to Holigavna, to which last however, in some respects, it appears allied. As I have not seen the flowers, and the fruit of Pegiais imperfectly described I am unable from my specimens to determine whether or not it is a species of that genus. It differs from Holi- gavna, to which it approaches in habit, and in having a fleshy, not bony, perecarp filled with minute cells : in having a superior not inferior fruit, with an erect, not pendulous seed, and in the embryo being situated at the base (next the calyx) of the fruit, not laterally and towards its apex. From Semecavpus it differs in wanting the bony perecarp and the enlarged torus. Under the impression that it may prove a Pegia I have subjoined the character of that genus as given by Meisner from Colebrooke, whose paper in the Linnaean transactions I have not an opportu- nity of consulting for myself.

The new (?) species of Semecavpus may possibly be the variety <S. cunifolius, but if so I cer- tainly think it a distinct species. The leaves are from 15 to 18 inches long, tapering nearly two- thirds of their length towards the base, the remaining third ending in an acute lanceolate point, hence they may be described as cuneato-lanceolate. Panicles of fruit (I have only seen the female plant) axillary and terminal, several congested near the apex of the branch, the lower half of the half grown perecarp embraced by the cup-shaped calyx, whether it afterwards en- larges I am unable to say, the young seed is lateral, pendulous from near the apex. The new species of Buchanania is at once distinguished by its coriaceous, even, glabrous, lanceolate, acute leaves, so accurately resembling those of the Mango, that but for the flowers I should at once have referred it to that genus. The fruit I have not seen. A leaf of the species of Rhus here figured was long ago represented by Burman (Thesauv. Zeylan. table 45) under the name of Filix Zeylanicus Avbovescens, &c. but had never so far as I am aware been taken up by any author until Dr. Arnott and I described it in our Prodromus. I first found it at Cour- tallum and since in Ceylon.

SEMECARPUS.

S. Grahamii, (R. W. Icon. PL Ind, Ort. 235.) Leaves euneato-lanceolate, acute, coriaceous, glabrous above, pubescent beneath, petiol short, furnished with 4 subulate bodies (as in Holigarna hngifolia) panicles racemose, contracted, congested towards the summits of the branch- es: calyx truncated, cup-shaped, adnate, with the lower half of the young fruit: styles 3, lateral, near the apex, reflex ed, stigmas capitate; ovary and young fruit cover- ed with rusty colored hairs; ovule solitary, pendulous from the base of the styles.

I dedicate this species to the memory of my late highly esteemed correspondent John Graham, Esq. of Bombay, from whom I received along with many others, the specimen here described marked " 91, Holigarna ov Semecarpus — a large tree called Biboo. It grows on the ghauts." In his premature removal science has lost an able and devoted votary, at a time too when diligently employed in the preparation and publication of a cata- logue of the plants of the Bombay Presidency.

The genera Semecarpus and Holigarna are so nearly alike in their generic characters, in the earlier stages of fructification, that I cannot be surprised at the doubt he expressed as to its genus, as they are only distinguish- able by the one having inferior the other superior fruit, which, at the period this one was gathered, is not so evi- dent as in its more advanced stages.

BUCHANANIA.

B. lanccolata,(R. W. Icon. PL Ind. Ort. 237.) Leaves lanceolate, acute, or acuminate, quite entire, glabrous, congested towards the summits of the young shoots: panicles pubescent, erect, terminal and axillary from the summits of the branches, contracted: floWers small, numerous, capitate on the ends of the short lateral divi- sions of the panicle.

Malabar near Quilon.

1 have not seen the fruit. The leaves are so like those of Mangifera indica that the same terms serve to characterize both.

PEGIA.

Gen. Char. Calyx persistent. Petals roundish. Disk annular, fleshy, embracing the ovary. Style I, conical, stigma simple. Berry globose, 1-seeded. — Meisner.

This brief character is, I presume, copied from Cole- brooke's paper in the Linnsean transactions. The ori- ginal I do not possess the means of consulting; but it is too imperfect to admit of my referring with certainty the following plant to it, the more so as the habit is not given.

P. ? Colebroolaana, (R. W. Ic. PL Ind. Ort. 236.) Ar- boreous, leaves coriaceous, alternate, simple, oblong or obovate, quite entire, acute or ending in a short abrupt acumen, parallelly veined, glabrous, racemes axillary, or from the scars of fallen leaves, much shorter than the leaves, many-flowered. Fruit superior, globose, point- ed with the persistent fleshy style and capitate stigma : perecarp containing between its laminae numerous small

cells, the base bound by a ring. Seed one, erect, cotyle- dons thick, fleshy, radicle inferior.

Hab. — Shevagerry Hills.

The leaves sometimes resemble those of some species of Pterospermum. They are usually broader above and some of them somewhat truncated at the apex, reticula- ted and villous beneath. The imperfect remains of the calyx in these specimens seem to indicate that it is 5- lobed, and several of the fruit retain the fleshy ring which originally bound the ovary.

BALSAMODENDRON.

The following remarks and characters I copy verbatim from Dr. Arnott's paper on this genus, published in the Annals of Natural History, vol. iii. p. 85-86.

" In the Prodromus Florae Peninsulas India; Orientalis, l. p. 176, Dr. Wight and I united this, as a subgenus, to Protium, and it still appears to me doubtful if the two be separated by sufficiently important characters: the habit is, however, very different. In consequence of the addition of several new species, the character given by Dr. Wight and me, will require to be slightly alter- ed, as follows:

Calyx late vel tubuloso-campanulatus : torus disci- formis in fundo calycis ovarium cingens, externe inter singula stamina verrucula elevata instructus: stamina octo: drupa ovata : nux obtusa angulata.

From this it is obvious that the shape of the calyx and nut is not sufficient to distinguish Balsamodendron from the species we referred to the Prolium of Burmann, and that the principal character consists in the position of the torus or disk.

All the East Indian species which I have seen have the calyx tubular-cam panulate as in the Senegarnbia one, {Heudelotia) and Commiphora of Jacquein, while it is broad and shallow in B. gileadense, and perhaps in the other two from Arabia: but, as these last are not suffi- ciently known, I cannot avail myself of that probable difference of structure to subdivide the genus into sec- tions. The following is a synopsis of all the specjes known.

1. B.Berryi, Am. spinescens, foliislongiusciile petio- latis glabris, foliolis 3 cuneato-obovatis crenatis, termi- nali lateralibus duplo majore, pedicellis unifioris brevi- bus, petalis calyce breviter tubuloso subduplo longiori- bus, fructu apiculato. — Protium Gileadense. {W.and A. Prod. Exel. syn.) Amyris Gileadensis, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. p. 246. Exel. syn.

2. B. Roxburghii, Arn. spinescens, foliis petiolatis glabris, foliolis 3, terminali ovaii serrulato, lateralibus minutis, pedicellis unifioris brevibus. — Amyris Commi- phora.

3. B. Wightii, Arn. Spinescens, foliis sessilibus gla- bris, foliolis 3, subaequahbus cuneato-obovatis acute dentalo-serratis, floribus sessilibus fasciculatis, fructu subiter acuminato.

7. B. Gileadense, Kunth ; inerme, foliis petiolatis glabris, foliolis 3, integerrimis obovato-oblongis, pedi- cellis brevibus unifioris, calyce latiuscule campanulato. B. Gileadense et B. opobalsamum. — Kunth.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 75.

1. Rhus decipiens. Panicle and leaf— natural size. 7- A young fruit — natural size.

2. An expanded flower seen from above, showing the 8. Somewhat magnified.

petals and stamens inserted under the margin of the 9. Cut transversely, one seed aborted or imperfect,

disk. 10. A fruit cut vertically.

3. Stamens. 11. A seed — all, with the exceptions mentioned, more

4. A detached petal. or less magnified.

5. The ovary somewhat advanced, cut vertically, This plate is defective in not showing the character ovules pendulous. of the embryo — a point I overlooked when sending it

6. Ovary cut transversely, 2-celled. to press.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 76.

1 & 2. Spondias Mangifera. Leaves and panicle — 6. Cut transversely, showing the five carpels attached

natural size. to a central axis.

3. A dissected flower, petals and stamens removed, 7. A full grown fruit cut vertically, showing the disk as it encloses the ovaries. 8. Transversely.

4. Stamens. 9. A seed cut transversely.

5. Two ovaries removed and cut vertically, showing 10. A mature seed.

the pendulous ovules. 11. The same, the testa partially removed to show

the cotyledons — all more or less magnified.

TEREBINTHACEÆ

RHUS DECIPIENS. (W.&A.)

TEREBINTHACEÆ

SPONDIAS MANGIFERA. (Pers.)