Flora Medica

ABIES.Alps of Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Siberia, &c. (The commonLarch.)The Larch is a tree of straight and lofty growth, as well as largebulk, with wide-spreading branches, whose extremities droop in themost graceful manner. In a wild state its form is less regular, butmore picturesque. The buds are alternate, perennial, cup-shaped,scaly, each producing annually a pencil-like tuft of very numerous,spreading, linear, bluntish, entire, smooth, tender, bright-green, deciduousleaves, about an inch long. Involucrating leaves to each flowernumerous, recurved, obtuse, with 5 fringe-like teeth, chaffy, red-brown,deciduous. Male flowers yellow, drooping, about 3 an inch long. Axismuch shorter than the involucre ;anthers crowded, deflexed, inflated,and 2-lobed in front, with a short recurved point. Female catkinserect, larger than the male flowers, beautifully variegated with greenand pink ; carpellary scales orbicular bracts much ; larger, fiddle-shaped,reflexed, with a prominent, awl-shaped green point. This last becomeserect, and somewhat enlarged, projecting always beyond the orbicularcarpel, which dilates greatly, hardens, and becomes the seed-bearingscale of the cone. The cones are erect, rather above an inch long,ovate ; purple when young reddish-brown when ; ripe, light, not ponderous,their scales spreading, orbicular, slightly reflexed, and jagged,or cracked, at the margin. Wing of each seed half-ovate. Smth.Venice turpentine is obtained from the trunk. A saccharine mattercalled Manna of Brian$on exudes from the branches, and when thelarch forests in Russia take fire a gum issues from the trees duringtheir combustion, which is termed gummi Orenbergense ; and which iswholly soluble in water like Gum Arabic.CALLITRIS.Flowers monoecious on different branches. $ . Catkins terminal,oval. Stamens numerous, naked, inserted on the axis ;filaments eccentrically peltate, loosely imbricated ; anther-cells2-5, longitudinally 2-valved, inserted in the stalk below thepelta. j . Receptacle terminal, very short. Scales 4-6, surroundingthe receptacle, opposite in two rows or ternate inwhorls, the pairs or whorls different from each other in form andin the number of the ovules. Ovules 3-9 at the base of eachscale, sessile, erect, with their points open. Cone formed of thescales become woody and mucronate under the point, closelyconverging, but in time opening into 46 valves. Seeds wingedon each side. Cypress-like trees.1177. C. quadrivalvis Vent. Rich. mem. conif. 46. LondonArb. etfrut. '2462. Thuja articulata Desf. atl. iii. 353. t. 252.Sot. Cab. t. 844. Upper part of the province of Temsme, inthe kingdom of Morocco. Schousboe. (Arar tree.)A tree of enormous size (Schousboe). Branches when youngjointed, furrowed, very brittle, leafless ;with whorls of ovate mucronateshort scales at the joints. Fruit the size of a large pea, deep purple,glaucous, 4-cornered, with the angles rounded, the sides hollowed out,and a small projecting point near the apex of each hollow when; ripe555