Amyris
(from a, intensive, and myron, balm; the whole of the trees in this genus smell strongly of balm or myrrh). ORD. Burseraceae. Ornamental stove evergreen trees, abounding in a resinous fluid. Flowers white, disposed in panicles. Leaves unequally pinnate. They thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat; and cuttings root freely in sand, under a hand glass with bottom heat, during the spring months.
A. balsamifera (balsam-bearing). Synonymous with A. toxifera. A. braziliensis (Brazilian).* fl. white; panicles axillary, shorter than the leaves. August. l. with one to three pairs of opposite leaflets; leaflets lanceolate, tapering to the base, rounded at the apex, mucronate, quite entire, veiny, shining above, discoloured beneath. h. 20ft. Brazil, 1823. A. heptaphylla (seven-leaved). fl. whitish yellow; panicles branched, axillary, and terminal. l. with three to four pairs of alternate, simple leaflets, which are stalked, obliquely-lanceolate, acuminated, entire. h. 16ft. India, 1823.
A. Plumieri (Plumier's).* Gum Elemi Tree. fl. white; panicles branched, terminal. The fruit of this species is the shape and size of an olive, but red, having an odoriferous pulp within it. l. leaflets three to five, all stalked, somewhat serrated, ovate, acuminate, villous beneath. h. 20ft. West Indies, 1820.
A. toxifera (poison-bearing).* fl. white; racemes simple, about the length of the petioles. fr. the shape of a pear, and of a purple colour, hanging in bunches. l., leaflets five to seven, stalked, ovate, somewhat cordate, acuminated. h. 50ft. West Indies, 1818. The wood, known as Rhodes Wood, bears a fine polish, and has a pleasant smell. SYN. A. balsamifera.