melIa

Gr. melia the ash-tree, which one of the species resembles in foliage.] Bot .: The typical genus of the tribe Meliese, and the order Meliaceae (q. v.). Calyx, five-cleft; petals, five linear; stamens, ten, the filaments combined into a tube; drupe fleshy, five-celled, each cell with one or two seeds. Species few, chiefly from India. Melia azedarach is believed to be a native of China and the north of India, but has been carried into most warm It has bipinnate leaves and bunches of lilac-colored, fragrant flowers whend it has been called the Persian lilac. In Bermuda, ., it is termed the Pride of India Tree, in parts of India the Hill Margoza, in New Zealand the White Cedar. Other names are the Common Bead-tree, the Holy Tree, and the False Sycamore. It is from thirty to fifty feet high. The flowers and leaves are applied as a poultice in India to relieve nervous headaches. The bark and leaves are used internally and externally in leprosy and scrofula. The root, which is bitter and nauseous, is used as an anthelmintic. Of other East Indian species, one, M. azadirachta, sometimes called Azadirachta indica, is the Neem-tree (q. v.). meliaceæ měl-l-a-çe-sa, 8. pl. [Mod. Lat. mel i ( a ); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -aceœ.] Bot .: Meliads, an order of hypogynous exogens, alliance Rutales. It consists of trees or shrubs, with leaves, as a rule, alternate, simple, or pinnate, without stipules. Flowers loosely aggregated; sepals three, four, or five, more or le cohering; petals four or five, united at the base, or even tubular; stamens twice as many; filaments united in a tube; disc surrounding the ovary like a cup; ovary with five, four, three, or two, or, occasionally, with ten to twelve cells; style, one; stigmas distinct or combined; fruit berried, drupaceous, or capsular, often one-celled. The order has an affinity to the Aurantiacese. Found in the warmer parts of both hemispheres. Known genera, thirty-three; species, 150; tribes, Meliese and Trichiliese. -ad . ]