1187
Balsamoden'dron Myr'rha, Nees, L. —The Myrrh-Tree.
Balsamodendron (Protium ?) Myrrha , E.
Sex. Syst. Octandria, Monogynia.
(Gummi-resina, L. —Gummy-resinous exudation, E.— Myrrha, D.)
. History.—T he earliest notice of myrrh occurs in the Old Testament 0 ^. ’ x xxvii. 25), from which it appears that this gum-resin was antra< ^ e w ’th ^ le Eastern nations more than 3,500 years ago. Inn Hebrew language it is termed Mur, in allusion to its bitterness. Thedi i- ’ "’bo were well acquainted with it, called it 2/u5pra; or, in thej, * c dialect, uipfa. Hippocrates (see Dierbach, Arzneim. des Hippok.0 ^ .d) employed it in medicine in several diseases; and Dioscorides 7 > ' 1- ca P- 77) describes several kinds of it, the most esteemed being the******». Some of the ancient poets tell us that the name of this(v ' res in was derived from Myrrha, the daughter of Cinyras, King of*aini ' V ^° bi ]° vc with her own father, and after having had cri-a j ln tercourse with him, fled to Arabia, where she was changed intoe which still bears her name.
^s^thstanding the early knowledge of, and acquaintance with, theUntil 0t , ^aynli, we had no accurate account of the tree which yields it]§ 2 q return of Ehrenberg from his travels with Hempricli, duringa Sn bi various parts of Africa and Asia, and who brought with himv or/p Ilen the tree, which has been described and figured by Neesilyj i 1Sen heck ( Beschr . Offic. Planz.) under the name of Balsamodendronha Ve a ‘ The first notice of this discovery of these travellers which I" bh, is in Alex. Humboldt ’s “ Bericht uber die naturhisto-herl der Herren Ehrenberg und Hemprich,” &c., published atp ln m 1826.
Gen. Char. — Flowers irregular. Calyx four-toothed, per-St anie ' Petals four, linear-oblong; {estivation induplicate-valvate.tlj e . e ight, inserted under the annular disk ; elevated warts betweenoy ate arne ns. Ovary one. Style one, short, obtuse. Berry or drupeacute > with four sutures, one- to two-celled; cells one-seeded,five < enta * trees giving out balsam. Leaves pinnated; leaflets three toi^be, without dots (D.C.)
nes c ’ 11A R. — Stem shrubby, arborescent; branches squarrose, spi-tjj ‘ Leaves temate ; leaflets obovate, obtuse, obtusely tooth-letted, a P ex , the lateral smooth. Fruit acuminate {Nees).
Pig
223.
Els.
Bark pale ash-grey, approaching white. Woodyellowish white ; both it and the bark have a pecu-liar odour. Leaves on short stalks. Flowers unknown.Fruit ovate, smooth, brown, somewhat larger than apea; surrounded at the base by a four-toothed calyx,and supported on a very short stalk.
Has. —Gison, on the borders of Arabia Felix.
This species is considered by Lindley (FI. Med. 170) to beidentical with the Amyris Kataf of For A iil (FI. Aigypt. Arab .80), the Balsamodendron Kataf, Nees; Protium Kataf,Lindley. But the identity of the two plants is by no meanssatisfactorily demonstrated. A. Kataf is distinguished, 1st,by the abseuce of thorns; 2dly, by the leaves being fourtimes larger, and the lateral leaflets agreeing both in form andl^dmlron size with the terminal ones; 3dly, the fruit (according toskiil) is round, with a depressed umbilicus at the point.
M,
Ale a ?^“
* The fruit.