1182

ELEMENTS ,0F MATERIA MEDICA.

Order 59. Terebintha'ce.®, Jussieu .— The Terebinth TrIB e ’

Bukskkacu,*, Xaxthox yi.aci;.k, Cax.xauace.k, Amyhidack.!': and Anacardiace.*, Li»^ e l'

Essential Characters. —Flowers hermaphrodite, polygamous, or dioecious,three to five, more or less united at the base, imbricated in sestivation, very ra !'herent to the ovary. Petals rarely none, generally distinct, as many as, and altewith, the sepals, very seldom united at the base ; imbricated orvafvatein «sti v ' a j ]gStamens , as well as the petals, arising from the lower part of the calyx, or n 01 ” |, ercalycine disk, rarely from the torus surrounding the ovary ; either equal in "j> ^

to, and alternate with, the petals, or double (very rarely quadruple) the numothe petals, and then placed alternately before and between the petals. Carp e >some, numerous, distinct, with one style,—in others many, united by the ovain either case some of them are frequently abortive, and hence the car P e t |, e umany appear solitary, one-celled, but the number of the styles and stigmasusually indicates abortion. Fruit capsular or drupaceous. Seeds few, us •solitary, commonly exalbuminous. Embryo straight, curved, arched, or foldedcotyledons various ; radicle usually superior (D. C.) , 0 jl

Properties.—T he principles common to all the Terebinthacece, are:—1st. Fete, _in the seeds; 2ndly. Volatile oil combined with resin in the turpentine of the Pcias; 3rdly. Resin which flows either naturally, or from artificial openings mstems of many of the species; 4thly. Gum usually combined with resin —as n>hanum, myrrh, tacamahaca, &c. (Fee, Cours d’Hist Nat. i. 619).

Pista'cia Ter ebin’thus, Linn. L. E. D.— The Turpentine Pistacia-

Sex> Syst. Dioecia, Pentandria.

(Resina liquida, L .—Liquid resinous exudation, E.)

History. —This tree is the TlpjurOoc or 'Tepefiivdog of the Greek*Hippocrates employed the fruits, the buds, and the resin medicinally-Botany. Gen. Chau. — Flowers dioecious, apetalous. Males:cemes amentaceous, with one-flowered scales [bracts]. Calyx f> vC " c ' .Stamens five; anthers almost sessile, four-cornered. Females: Racemore lax. Calyx three- or four-cleft. Ovary one- to three-celled. ^

three, rather thick. Drupe dry, ovate, with a somewhat osseous ^usually one-celled, one-seeded, sometimes bearing two abortive celthe side. Seeds solitary in the cells, affixed to the side of the cell; e- ^buminous. Cotyledons thick, fleshy, oily, with a superior lateral radic

Trees with pinnate leaves (D. C.)

Sp. Char. — Leaves pinnate, with an odd one; leaflets about

seven*

acut e >

Fin. 221.

Pistacia Terebinthus (the fe-male plant).

ovate-lanceolate, rounded at the base,mucronate (D. C.)

A tree of thirty or thirty-five feet in heigh 1 ’Young leaves reddish, old ones dark-green, fcemes compound. Fruit almost round, purph sMar. Syria and the Greek Archipelago-Extraction. —Tournefort ( Voyage intoLevant , vol. ii. p. 62, Lond. 1741) says, m althe turpentine harvest in Sciois made, fromend of July to October, by cutting crossvvis^with a hatchet the trunks of the largest tarpontine trees. The turpentine runs down on astones placed under the trees, where it hardeniThe quantity yielded by each tree is small, nexceeding eight or ten ounces. ■ e

Properties.— Chian or Cyprus turpentm(Tcrcbinthina Chia seu Cypria) has the gene