236. HURA CREPITANS.—This tropical plant is known as the sand-box tree. Its deep-furrowed, rounded, hard-shelled fruit is about the size of an orange, and when ripe and dry, it bursts open with a sharp noise like the report of a pistol; hence, it is also called the monkey's dinner bell. An emetic oil is extracted from the seeds, and a venomous, milky juice is abundant in all parts of the plant.

237. HYMENAEA COURBARIL.—The locust tree of the West Indies; also called algarroba in tropical regions. This is one of the very largest growing trees known, and living trees in Brazil are supposed to have been growing at the commencement of the Christian era. The timber is very hard, and is much used for building purposes. A valuable resin, resembling the anime of Africa, exudes from the trunk, and large lumps of it are found about the roots of old trees.

238. HYPHAENE THEBAICA.—The doum, or doom palm, or gingerbread of Egypt; it grows also in Nubia, Abyssinia, and Arabia. The fibrous, mealy husks of the seeds are eaten, and taste almost like gingerbread. In the Thebias this palm forms extensive forests, the roots spreading over the lurid ruins of one of the largest and most splendid cities of the ancient world.

239. ICICA HEPTAPHYLLA.—The incense tree of Guiana, a tall-growing tree, furnishing wood of great durability. It is called cedar wood on account of its fragrant odor. The balsam from the trunk is highly odoriferous, and used in perfumery, and is known as balsam of acouchi; it is used in medicine. The balsam and branches are burned as incense in churches.

240. ILEX PARAGUAYENSIS.—This is the tea plant of South America, where it occupies the same important position in the domestic economy of the country as the Chinese tea does in this. The mate is prepared by drying and roasting the leaves, which are then reduced to a powder and made into packages. When used, a small portion of the powder is placed in a vessel, sugar is added, and boiling water poured over the whole. It has an agreeable, slightly aromatic odor, rather bitter to the taste, but very refreshing and invigorating to the human frame after severe fatigue. It acts in some degree as an aperient and diuretic, and in overdoses produces intoxication. It contains the same active principle, theine as tea and coffee, but not their volatile and empyreumatic oils.

241. ILLICIUM ANISATUM.—This magnoliaceous plant is a native of China, and its fruit furnishes the star anise of commerce. In China, Japan, and India it is used as a condiment in the preparation of food, and is chewed to promote digestion, and the native physicians prescribe it as a carminative. It is the flavoring ingredient of the preparation Anisette de Bordeaux. Its flavor and odor are due to a volatile oil, which is extracted by distillation, and sold as oil of anise, which is really a different article.

242. ILLICIUM FLORIDANUM.—A native of the Southern States. The leaves are said to be poisonous; hence, the plant is sometimes called poison bag. The bark has been used as a substitute for cascarilla.

243. ILLICIUM RELIGIOSUM.—A Japanese species, which reaches the size of a small tree, and is held sacred by the Japanese, who form wreaths of it with which to decorate the tombs of their deceased friends, and they also burn the fragrant bark as incense. Their watchmen use the powdered bark for burning in graduated tubes, in order to mark the time, as it consumes slowly and uniformly. The leaves are said to possess poisonous properties.

244. INDIGOFERA TINCTORIA.—The indigo plant, a native of Asia, but cultivated and naturalized in many countries. The use of indigo as a dye is of great antiquity. Both Dioscorides and Pliny mention it, and it is supposed to have been employed by the ancient Egyptians. The indigo of commerce is prepared by throwing the fresh cut plants into water, where they are steeped for twelve hours, when the water is run off into a vessel and agitated in order to promote the formation of the blue coloring matter, which does not exist ready formed in the tissues of the plant, but is the result of the oxidation of other substances contained in them. The coloring matter then settles at the bottom; it is then boiled to a certain consistency and afterwards spread out on cloth frames, where it is further drained of water and pressed into cubes or cakes for market.

245. IPOM[OE]A PURGA.—A species of jalap is obtained from this convolvulaceous plant; this is a resinous matter contained in the juices.

246. IRIARTELLA SETIGERA.—A South American palm growing in the underwood of the forests on the Amazon and Rio Negro. The Indians use its slender stems for making their blow pipes or gravatanas, through which they blow small poisoned arrows with accuracy to a considerable distance.

247. JAMBOSA MALACCENSIS.—This Indian plant belongs to the myrtle family. It produces a good-sized edible fruit known as the Malay apple.

248. JASMINUM SAMBAC TRIFOLIATUM.—A native of South America. The flowers are very fragrant, and an essential oil, much used in perfumery under the name of jasmine oil, is obtained from this and other species.

249. JATROPHA CLAUCA.—An East Indian plant the seeds of which when crushed furnish an oil which is used in medicine.

250. JATROPHA CURCAS.—The physic nut tree of tropical America. This plant contains a milky, acrid, glutinous juice, which forms a permanent stain when dropped on linen, and which might form a good marking ink. Burning oil is expressed from the seeds in the Philippine Islands; the oil, boiled with oxide of iron, is used in China as a varnish. It is used in medicine in various ways, the leaves for fomentations, the juice in treating ulcers, and the seeds as purgatives.

251. JUBAEA SPECTABILIS.—The coquito palm of Chili. The seed or nut is called cokernut, and has a pleasant, nutty taste. These are used by the Chilian confectioners in the preparation of sweetmeats, and by the boys as marbles, being in shape and size like them. The leaves are used for thatching, and the trunks or stems are hollowed out and converted into water pipes. A sirup called Miel de Palma or palm honey, is prepared by boiling the sap of this tree to the consistency of treacle, and is much esteemed for domestic use as sugar. The sap is obtained by cutting off the crown of leaves when it immediately begins to flow and continues for several months provided a thin slice is shaved off the top every morning. Full-grown trees will thus yield 90 gallons.

252. KAEMPFERIA GALANGA.—This plant belongs to the family of gingers. The root stocks have an aromatic fragrance and are used medicinally in India as well as in the preparation of perfumery. The flowers appear before the leaves upon very short stems.

253. KIGELIA PINNATA.—This plant is interesting from the circumstance of its being held sacred in Nubia, where the inhabitants celebrate their religious festivals under it by moonlight, and poles made of its wood are erected as symbols of special veneration before the houses of their great chiefs. The fruits, which are very large, when cut in half and slightly roasted, are employed as an outward application to relieve pains.

254. KRAMERIA TRIANDRA.—This is one of the species that yield the rhatany roots of commerce. In Peru an extract is made from this species, which is a mild, easily assimilated, astringent medicine. It acts as a tonic, and is used in intermittent and putrid fevers. It is also styptic, and when applied in plasters is used in curing ulcers. The color of the infusion of the roots is blood-red, on which account it is used to adulterate, or rather it forms an ingredient in the fabrication of port wine.

255. KYDIA CALYCINA.—An Indian plant of the family Byttneriaceae. The bark is employed in infusion as a sudorific and in cutaneous diseases, and its fibrous tissue is manufactured into cordage.

256. LAGETTA LINTEARIA.—The lace-bark tree of Jamaica. The inner bark consists of numerous concentric layers of fibers, which interlace in all directions, and thus present a great resemblance to lace. Articles of apparel are made of it. Caps, ruffles, and even complete suits of lace are made with it. It bears washing with common soap, and when bleached in the sun acquires a degree of whiteness equal to the best artificial lace. Ropes made of it are very durable and strong.

257. LANSIUM DOMESTICUM.—A low-growing tree of the East Indies, which is cultivated to some extent for its fruit, which is known in Java and Malacca as lanseh fruit, and is much esteemed for its delicate aroma; the pulp is of somewhat firm consistence and contains a cooling, refreshing juice.

258. LAPAGERIA ROSEA.—A twining plant from Chili. The flowers are very beautiful, and are succeeded by berries, which are said to be sweet and eatable. The root has qualities closely resembling sarsaparilla and used for the same purpose.

259. LATANIA RUBRA.—A very beautiful palm from the Mauritius. The fruit contains a small quantity of pulp, which is eaten by the natives, but is not considered very palatable by travelers.

260. LAWSONIA INERMIS.—This is the celebrated henna of the East. The use of the powdered leaves as a cosmetic is very general in Asia and northern Africa, the practice having descended from very remote ages, as is proved by the Egyptian mummies, the parts dyed being usually the finger and toe nails, the tips of the fingers, the palms of the hands, and soles of the feet, receiving a reddish color, considered by Oriental belles as highly ornamental. Henna is prepared by reducing the leaves to powder, and when used is made into a pasty mass with water and spread on the part to be dyed, being allowed to remain for twelve hours. The plant is known in the West Indies as Jamaica Mignonette.

261. LECYTHIS OLLARIA.—This tree produces the hard urn-shaped fruits known in Brazil as monkey cups. The seeds are eatable and sold as Sapucaia nuts. The fruit vessels are very peculiar, being 6 inches in diameter and having closely fitting lids, which separate when the seeds are mature. The bark is composed of a great number of layers, not thicker than writing paper, which the Indians separate and employ as cigar wrappers.

262. LEPTOSPERMUM LANIGERUM.—A plant known throughout Australia as Captain Cook's tea tree, from the circumstance that, on the first landing of this navigator in that country, he employed a decoction of the leaves of this plant as a corrective to the effects of scurvy among his crew, and this proved an efficient medicine. Thickets of this plant, along the swampy margin of streams, are known as Tea-tree scrubs. It is also known among the natives as the Manuka plant. The wood is hard and heavy, and was formerly used for making sharp-pointed spears. It belongs to the myrtle family of plants.

263. LICUALA ACUTIFIDA.—This palm is a native of the island of Pulo-Penango, and yields canes known by the curious name of Penang Lawyers. It is a low-growing plant, its stems averaging an inch in diameter. The stems are converted into walking canes by scraping their rough exteriors and straightening them by means of fire heat.

264. LIMONIA ACIDISSIMA.—An East India shrub which produces round fruits about the size of damson plums, of a yellowish color, with reddish or purplish tints. They are extremely acid, and the pulp is employed in Java as a substitute for soap.

265. LIVISTONA AUSTRALIS.—This is one of the few palms found in Australia. The unexpanded leaves, prepared by being scalded and dried in the shade, are used for making hats, while the still younger and more tender leaves are eaten like cabbage.

266. LUCUMA MAMMOSUM.—This sapotaceous plant is cultivated for its fruit, which is called marmalade, on account of its containing a thick agreeably flavored pulp, bearing some resemblance in appearance and taste to quince marmalade. A native of South America.

267. MABA GEMINATA.—The ebony wood of Queensland. The heart wood is black, and the outside wood of a bright red color. It is close-grained, hard, heavy, elastic and tough, and takes a high polish.

268. MACADAMIA TERNIFOLIA.—An Australian tree which produces an edible nut called the Queensland nut. This fruit is about the size of a walnut, and within a thick pericarp, a smooth brown-colored nut, inclosing a kernel of a rich and agreeable flavor, resembling in some degree that of a filbert.

269. MACHAERIUM FIRMUM.—A South American tree which furnishes a portion of the rosewood of commerce. Various species of the genus, under the common Brazilian name of Jaccaranda, are said to yield this wood, but there is some uncertainty about the origin of the various commercial rosewoods.

270. MACLURA TINCTORIA.—The fustic tree. Large quantities of the bright yellow wood of this tree are exported from South America for the use of dyers, who obtain from it shades of yellow, brown, olive, and green. A concentrated decoction of the wood deposits, on cooling, a yellow crystalline matter called Morine. This tree is sometimes called old fustic, in order to distinguish it from another commercial dye called young fustic, which is obtained in Europe from a species of Rhus.

271. MACROPIPER METHYSTICUM.—A plant of the pepper family, which furnishes the root called Ava by the Polynesians. It has narcotic properties, and is employed medicinally, but is chiefly remarkable for the value attached to it as a narcotic and stimulant beverage, of which the natives partake before they commence any important business or religious rites. It is used by chewing the root and extracting the juice, and has a calming rather than an intoxicating effect. It is a filthy preparation, and only partaken of by the lower classes of Feejeeans.

272. MACROZAMIA DENISONII.—An Australian cycad, the seeds of which contain a large amount of farina, or starchy matter, which formerly supplied a considerable amount of food for the natives of that country. The fresh seeds are very acrid, but when steeped in water and roasted they become palatable and nutritious.

273. MALPIGHIA GLABRA.—A low-growing tree of the West Indies, which produces an edible fruit called the Barbadoes cherry.

274. MAMMEA AMERICANA.—The fruit of this tree, under the name of mammee apple, is very much esteemed in tropical countries. It often attains a size of 6 or 8 inches in diameter and is of a yellow color. The outer rind and the pulp which immediately surrounds the seeds are very bitter, but the intermediate is sweet and aromatic. The seeds are used as anthelmintics, an aromatic liquor is distilled from the flowers, and the acrid, resinous gum distilled from the bark is used to destroy insects.

275. MANETTIA CORDIFOLIA.—This climbing-plant is a native of South America, and belongs to the family of Cinchonaceae. The rind of the root has emetic properties, and is used in Brazil for dropsy and other diseases. It is also exported under the name of Ipecacuan, chiefly from Buenos Ayres.

276. MANGIFERA INDICA.—The mango, in some of its varieties esteemed as the most delicious of tropical fruits, while many varieties produce fruit whose texture resembles cotton and tastes of turpentine. The unripe fruit is pickled. The pulp contains gallic and citric acid. The seeds possess anthelmintic properties. A soft gum resin exudes from the wounded bark, which is used medicinally.

277. MANICARIA SACCIFERA.—Bussu palm of South America. Its large leaves are used for thatching roofs, for which purpose they are well fitted and very durable. The fibrous spathe furnishes a material of much value to the natives. This fibrous matter when taken off entire is at once converted into capital bags, in which the Indian keeps the red paint for his toilet, or the silk cotton for his arrows, or he stretches out the larger ones to make himself a cap of nature's own weaving, without seam or joint.

278. MANIHOT UTILISSIMA.—This euphorbiaceous plant yields cassava or mandiocca meal. It is extensively cultivated in tropical climates and supplies a great amount of food. The root is the part used, and in its natural condition is a most virulent poison, but by grating the roots to a pulp the poison is expelled by pressure, and altogether dissipated by cooking. The expressed juice, when allowed to settle, deposits the starch known as tapioca.

279. MARANTA ARUNDINACEA.—The arrowroot plant, cultivated for its starch. The tubers being reduced to pulp with water, the fecula subsides, and is washed and dried for commerce. It is a very pure kind of starch, and very nutritious. The term arrowroot is said to be derived from the fact that the natives of the West Indies use the roots of the plant as an application to wounds made by poison arrows.

280. MAURITIA FLEXUOSA.—The Moriche, or Ita palm, very abundant on the banks of the Amazon, Rio Negro, and Orinoco Rivers. In the delta of the latter it occupies swampy tracts of ground, which are at times completely inundated, and present the appearance of forests rising out of the water. These swamps are frequented by a tribe of Indians called Guaranes, who subsist almost entirely upon the produce of this palm, and during the period of the inundations suspend their dwellings from the tops of its tall stems. The outer skin of the young leaves is made into string and cord for the manufacture of hammocks. The fermented sap yields palm wine, and another beverage is prepared from the young fruits, while the soft inner bark of the stem yields a farinaceous substance like sago.

281. MAXIMILIANA REGIA.—An Amazonian palm called Inaja. The spathes are so hard that, when filled with water, they will stand the fire, and are sometimes used by the Indians as cooking utensils. The Indians who prepare the kind of rubber called bottle rubber, make use of the hard stones of the fruit as fuel for smoking and drying the successive layers of milky juice as it is applied to the mold upon which the bottles are formed. The outer husk, also, yields a kind of saline flour used for seasoning their food.

282. MELALEUCA MINOR.—A native of Australia and the islands of the Indian Ocean. The leaves, being fermented, are distilled, and yield an oil known as cajuput or cajeput oil, which is green, and has a strong aromatic odor. It is valuable as an antispasmodic and stimulant, and at one time had a great reputation as a cure for cholera. In China the leaves are used as a tonic in the form of decoction.

283. MELICOCCA BIJUGA.—This sapindaceous tree is plentiful in tropical America and the West Indies, and is known as the Genip tree. It produces numerous green egg-shaped fruits, an inch in length, possessing an agreeable vinous and somewhat aromatic flavor, called honey berries or bullace plums. The wood of the tree is hard and heavy.

284. MELOCACTUS COMMUNIS.—Commonly called the Turk's Cap cactus, from the flowering portion on the top of the plant being of a cylindrical form and red color, like a fez cap. Notwithstanding that they grow in the most dry sterile places, they contain a considerable quantity of moisture, which is well known to mules, who resort to them when very thirsty, first removing the prickles with their feet.

285. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM.—The ice plant, so called in consequence of every part of the plant being covered with small watery pustules, which glisten in the sun like fragments of ice. Large quantities of this plant are collected in the Canaries and burned, the ashes being sent to Spain for the use of glass makers. M. edule is called the Hottentot's fig, its fruit being about the size of a small fig, and having a pleasant, acid taste when ripe. M. tortuosum possesses narcotic properties, and is chewed by the Hottentots to induce intoxication. The fruits possess hygrometric properties, the dried, shriveled, capsules swelling out and opening so as to allow of the escape of the seeds when moistened by rain, which at the same time fits the soil for their germination.

286. MIKANIA GUACO.—A composite plant which has gained some notoriety as the supposed Cundurango, the cancer-curing bark. It has long been supposed to supply a powerful antidote for the bite of venomous serpents.

287. MIMUSOPS BALATA.—The Bully tree. This sapotaceous plant attains a great size in Guiana and affords a dense, close-grained, valuable timber. Its small fruits, about the size of coffee berries, are delicious when ripe. The flowers also yield a perfume when distilled in water, and oil is expressed from the seeds.

288. MIMUSOPS ELENGI.—A native of Ceylon, where its hard, heavy, durable timber is used for building purposes. The seed also affords a great amount of oil.

289. MONODORA GRANDIFLORA.—An African plant belonging to the Anonaceae. It produces large fruit, which contains a large quantity of seeds about the size of the Scarlet-Runner bean. They are aromatic and impart to the fruit the odor and flavor of nutmeg; hence they are also known as calabash nutmegs.

290. MONSTERA DELICIOSA.—This is a native of southern Mexico and yields a delicious fruit with luscious pineapple flavor. The outer skin of the fruit, if eaten, causes a stinging sensation in the mouth. This is easily removed when the fruit is ripe. The leaves are singularly perforated with holes at irregular intervals, from natural causes not sufficiently explained. In Trinidad the plant is called the Ceriman.

291. MORINGA PTERYGOSPERMA.—A native of the East Indies, where it bears the name of horse-radish tree. The seeds are called ben nuts and supply a fluid oil, highly prized by watchmakers, called oil of ben. The root is pungent and stimulant and tastes like horse-radish.

292. MORONOBEA COCCINEA.—The hog gum tree, which attains the height of 100 feet. A fluid juice exudes from incisions in the trunk and hardens into a yellow resin. It is said the hogs in Jamaica when wounded rub the injured part against the tree so as to cover it with the gum, which possesses vulnerary properties; hence its name. The resin has been employed as a substitute for copaiba balsam, and plasters are made of it.

293. MUCUNA PRURIENS.—A tall climbing plant of the West Indies and other warm climates. It is called the cowage, or cow-itch, on account of the seed pods being covered with short brittle hairs, the points of which are finely serrated, causing an unbearable itching when applied to the skin, which is relieved by rubbing the part with oil. It is employed as a vermifuge. In East Africa it is called Kitedzi. The sea beans found on the coast of Florida are the seeds of Mucuna altissima. In Cuba these are called bulls' eyes.

294. MURRAYA EXOTICA.—A Chinese plant of the orange family. The fruit is succulent, and the white flowers are very fragrant. They are used in perfumery.

295. MUSA CAVENDISHII.—This is a valuable dwarf species of the banana from southern China. It bears a large truss of fine fruit, and is cultivated to some extent in Florida, where it endures more cold than the West India species and fruits more abundantly.

296. MUSA ENSETE.—This Abyssinian species forms large foliage of striking beauty. The food is dry and uneatable; but the base of the flower stalk is eaten by the natives.

297. MUSA SAPIENTUM.—The banana plant. This has been cultivated and used as food in tropical countries from very remote times, and furnishes enormous quantities of nutritious food, and serves as a staple support to a large number of the human race. The expressed juice is in some countries made into a fermented liquor and the young shoots eaten as a vegetable.

298. MUSA TEXTILIS.—This furnishes the fiber known as manilla hemp, and is cultivated in the Philippine Islands for this product. The finer kinds of the fiber are woven into beautiful shawls and the coarser manufactured into cordage for ships. The fiber is obtained from the leaf-stalks.

299. MUSSAENDA FRONDOSA.—This cinchonaceous plant is a native of Ceylon. The bark and leaves are esteemed as tonic and febrifuges in the Mauritius, where they are known as wild cinchona. The leaves and flowers are also used as expectorants, and the juice of the fruit and leaves is used as an eyewash.

300. MYRISTICA MOSCHATA.—The nutmeg tree. The seed of this plant is the nutmeg of commerce, and mace is the seed cover of the same. When the nuts are gathered they are dried and the outer shell of the seed removed. The mace is also dried in the sun and assumes a golden yellow color. The most esteemed nutmegs come from Penang. At one time the nutmeg culture was monopolized by the Dutch, who were in the habit of burning them when the crop was too abundant, in order to keep up high prices.

301. MYROSPERMUM PERUIFERUM.—This plant yields the drug known as balsam of Peru, which is procured by making incisions in the bark, into which cotton rags are thrust; a fire is then made round the tree to liquefy the balsam. The balsam is collected by boiling the saturated rags in water. It is a thick, treacly looking liquid, with fragrant aromatic smell and taste, and is not used so much in medicine as it formerly was.

302. MYROSPERMUM TOLUIFERUM.—A South American tree, also called Myroxylon, which yields the resinous drug called balsam of Tolu. This substance is fragrant, having a warm, sweetish taste, and burns with an agreeable odor. It is used in perfumery and in the manufacture of pastilles, also for flavoring confectionery, as in Tolu lozenges.

303. MYRTUS COMMUNIS—The common myrtle. This plant is supposed to be a native of western Asia, but now grows abundantly in Italy, Spain, and the south of France. Among the ancients the myrtle was held sacred to Venus and was a plant of considerable importance, wreaths of it being worn by the victors of the Olympic games and other honored personages. Various parts of the plant were used in medicine, in cookery, and by the Tuscans in the preparation of myrtle wine, called myrtidanum. It is still used in perfumery, and a highly perfumed distillation is made from the flowers. The fruits are very aromatic and sweet, and are eaten fresh or dried and used as a condiment.

304. NANDINA DOMESTICA.—A shrub belonging to the family of berberries. It is a native of China and Japan, where it is extensively cultivated for its fruits. It is there known as Nandin.

305. NAUCLEA GAMBIR.—A native of the Malayan Islands, which yields the Gambir, or Terra Japonica of commerce. This is prepared by boiling the leaves in water until the decoction thickens, when it is poured into molds, where it remains until it acquires the consistency of clay; it is then cut into cubes and thoroughly dried. It is used as a masticatory in combination with the areca nut and betel leaf, and also for tanning purposes.

306. NECTANDRA LEUCANTHA.—The greenheart, or bibiru tree of British Guiana, furnishing bibiru bark, which is used medicinally as a tonic and febrifuge, its properties being due to the presence of an uncrystallizable alkaloid, also found in the seeds. The seeds are also remarkable for containing upwards of 50 per cent of starch, which is made into a kind of bread by the natives. The timber of this tree is extensively employed in shipbuilding, its great strength and durability rendering it peculiarly well suited for this purpose.

307. NEPENTHES DISTILLATORIA.—This pitcher plant is a native of Ceylon. The pitchers are partly filled with water before they open; hence it was supposed to be produced by some distilling process. In Ceylon the old, tough, flexible stems are used as willows.

308. NEPHELIUM LITCHI.—This sapindaceous tree produces one of the valued indigenous fruits of China. There are several varieties; the fruit is round, about an inch and a half in diameter, with a reddish-colored, thin, brittle shell. When fresh they are filled with a sweet, white, transparent, jelly-like pulp. The Chinese are very fond of these fruits and consume large quantities of them, both in the fresh state and when dried and preserved.

309. NERIUM OLEANDER.—This is a well-known plant, often seen in cultivation, and seemingly a favorite with many. It belongs to a poisonous family and is a dangerous poison. A decoction of its leaves forms a wash, employed in the south of Europe to destroy vermin; and its powdered wood and bark constitute the basis of an efficacious rat-poison. Children have died from eating the flowers. A party of soldiers in Spain, having meat to roast in camp, procured spits and skewers of the tree, which there attains a large size. The wood having been stripped of its bark, and brought in contact with the meat, was productive of fatal consequences, for seven men died out of the twelve who partook of the meat and the other five were for some time dangerously ill.

310. NOTELAEA LIGUSTRINA.—The Tasmanian iron wood tree. It is of medium growth and furnishes wood that is extremely hard and dense, and used for making sheaves for ships' blocks, and for other articles that require to be of great strength. The plant belongs to the olive family.

311. OCHROMA LAGOPUS.—A tree that grows about 40 feet high, along the seashores in the West Indies and Central America, and known as the cork wood. The wood is soft, spongy, and exceedingly light, and is used as a substitute for cork, both in stopping bottles and as floats for fishing nets. It is also known as Balsa.

312. [OE]NOCARPUS BATAVA.—A South American palm, which yields a colorless, sweet-tasted oil, used in Para for adulterating olive oil, being nearly as good for this purpose as peanut oil, so largely used in Europe. A palatable but slightly aperient beverage is prepared by triturating the fruits in water, and adding sugar and mandiocca flour.

313. OLEA EUROPAEA.—The European olive, which is popularly supposed to furnish all the olive oil of commerce. It is a plant of slow growth and of as slow decay. It is considered probable that trees at present existing in the Vale of Gethsemane are those which existed at the commencement of the Christian era. The oil is derived from the flesh of the fruit, and is pressed out of the bruised pulp; inferior kinds are from second and third pressings. The best salad oil is from Leghorn, and is sent in flasks surrounded by rush-work. Gallipoli oil is transported in casks, and Lucca in jars. The pickling olives are the unripe fruits deprived of a portion of their bitterness by soaking in water in which lime and wood ashes are sometimes added, and then bottled in salt and water with aromatics.

314. OPHIOCARYON PARADOXUM.—The snake nut tree of Guiana, so called on account of the curious form of the embryo of the seed, which is spirally twisted, so as to closely resemble a coiled-up blacksnake. The fruits are as large as those of the black walnut, and although they are not known to possess any medical properties, their singular snake-like form has induced the Indians to employ them as an antidote to the poison of venomous snakes. The plant belongs to the order of Sapindaceae.

315. OPHIORRHIZA MUNGOS.—A plant belonging to the cinchona family, the roots of which are reputed to cure snake bites. They are intensely bitter, and from this circumstance they are called earth-galls by the Malays.

316. OPHIOXYLON SERPENTINUM.—A native of the East Indies, where the roots are used in medicine as a febrifuge and alexipharmic.

317. OPUNTIA COCHINELLIFERA.—A native of Mexico, where it is largely cultivated in what are called the Nopal plantations for the breeding of the cochineal insect. This plant and others are also grown for a similar purpose in the Canary Islands and Madeira. Some of these plantations contain fifty thousand plants. Cochineal forms the finest carmine scarlet dye, and at least there are 2,000 tons of it produced yearly, in value worth $2,000 per ton.

318. OPUNTIA TUNA.—This plant is a native of Mexico and South America generally. It reaches a height of 15 to 20 feet and bears reddish-colored flowers, followed by pear-shaped fleshy fruits 2 or 3 inches long, and of a rich carmine color when ripe. It is cultivated for rearing the cochineal insect. The fruits are sweet and juicy; sugar has been made from them. The juice is used as a water-color and for coloring confectionery.

319. OREODAPHNE CALIFORNICA.—The mountain laurel, or spice bush, of California. When bruised it emits a strong, spicy odor, and the Spanish Americans use the leaves as a condiment.

320. OREODOXA OLERACEA.—The West Indian cabbage palm, which sometimes attains the height of 170 feet, with a straight cylindrical trunk. The semicylindrical portions of the leaf-stalk are formed into cradles for children, or made into splints for fractures. Their inside skin, peeled off while green, and dried, looks like vellum, and can be written upon. The heart of young leaves, or cabbage, is boiled as a vegetable or pickled, and the pith affords sago. Oil is obtained from the fruit.

321. ORMOSIA DASYCARPA.—This is the West Indian bead tree, or necklace tree, the seeds of which are roundish, beautifully polished, and of a bright scarlet color, with a black spot at one end resembling beads, for which they are substitutes, being made into necklaces, bracelets, or mounted in silver for studs and buttons. It is a leguminous plant.

322. OSMANTHUS FRAGRANS.—This plant has long been cultivated as Olea fragrans. The flowers have a fine fragrance, and are used by the Chinese to perfume tea. It appears that they consider the leaves also valuable, for they are frequently found in what is expected to be genuine tea.

323. PACHIRA ALBA.—A South American tree the inner bark of which furnishes a strong useful fiber, employed in the manufacture of ropes and various kinds of cordage. The petals of the flowers are covered with a soft silky down which is used for stuffing cushions and pillows.

324. PANDANUS UTILIS.—The screw pine of the Mauritius, where it is largely cultivated for its leaves, which are manufactured into bags or sacks for the exportation of sugar. They are also used for making other domestic vessels and for tying purposes.

325. PAPPEA CAPENSIS.—A small tree of the soapberry or sapindaceous family, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, where the fruit is known as the wild plum, from the pulp of which a vinous beverage and excellent vinegar are prepared, and an eatable, though slightly purgative, oil is extracted from the seeds. The oil is also strongly recommended for baldness and scalp affections.

326. PAPYRUS ANTIQUORUM.—The paper-reed of Asia, which yielded the substances used as paper by the ancient Egyptians. The underground root-stocks spread horizontally under the muddy soil, continuing to throw up stems as they creep along. The paper was made from thin slices, cut vertically from the apex to the base of the stem, between its surface and center. The slices were placed side by side, according to the size required, and then, after being wetted and beaten with a wooden instrument until smooth, were pressed and dried in the sun.

327. PARITIUM ELATUM.—The mountain mahoe, a malvaceous plant, that furnishes the beautiful lace-like bark called Cuba bast, imported by nurserymen for tying their plants. It was at one time only seen as employed in tying together bundles of genuine Havana cigars. It forms a tree 40 feet or more in height, and yields a greenish-blue timber, highly prized by cabinet-makers.

328. PARKIA AFRICANA.—The African locust tree, producing seeds which the natives of Soudan roast, and then bruise and allow to ferment in water until they become putrid, when they are carefully washed, pounded into powder, and made into cakes, which are said to be excellent, though having a very unpleasant smell. The pulp surrounding the seeds is made into a sweet farinaceous preparation.

329. PARKINSONIA ACULEATA.—This leguminous plant is called Jerusalem Thorn. Although a native of Southern Texas and Mexico, it is found in many tropical countries, and is frequently used for making hedges. Indians in Mexico employ it as a febrifuge and sudorific and also as a remedy for epilepsy.

330. PARMENTIERA CEREIFERA.—In the Isthmus of Panama this plant is termed the Candle tree, because its fruits, often 4 feet long, look like yellow candles suspended from the branches. They have a peculiar, apple-like smell, and cattle that partake of the leaves or fruit have the smell communicated to the beef if killed immediately.

331. PASSIFLORA QUADRANGULARIS.—The fruit of this plant is the Granadilla of the tropics. The pulp has an agreeable though rather mawkish taste. The root is said to possess narcotic properties, and is used in the Mauritius as an emetic.

332. PAULLINIA SORBILIS.—The seeds of this climbing sapindaceous plant furnish the famous guarana of the Amazon and its principal tributaries. The ripe seeds, when thoroughly dried, are pounded into a fine powder, which made into dough with water, is formed into cylindrical rolls, from 5 to 8 inches long, becoming very hard when dry. It is used as a beverage, which is prepared by grating about half a teaspoonful of one of the cakes into about a teacup of water. It is much used by Brazilian miners, and is considered a preventive of all manner of diseases. It is also used by travelers, who supply themselves with it previous to undertaking lengthy or fatiguing journeys. Its active principle is identical with theine, of which it contains a larger quantity than exists in any other known plant, being more than double that contained in the best black tea.

333. PAVETTA BORBONICA.—This belongs to the quinine family. The roots are bitter, and are employed as a purgative; the leaves are also used medicinally.

334. PEDILANTHUS TITHYMALOIDES.—This euphorbiaceous plant has an acrid, milky, bitter juice; the root is emetic, and the dried branches are used medicinally.

335. PERESKIA ACULEATA.—The Barbadoes gooseberry, which belongs to the family Cactaceae. It grows about 15 feet in height, and produces yellow-colored, eatable, and pleasant-tasted fruit, which is used in the West Indies for making preserves.

336. PERSEA GRATISSIMA.—The avocado or alligator pear, a common tree in the West Indies. The fruits are pear-shaped, covered with a brownish-green or purple skin. They are highly esteemed where grown, but strangers do not relish them. They contain a large quantity of firm pulp, possessing a buttery or marrow-like taste, and are frequently called vegetable marrow. They are usually eaten with spice, lime-juice, pepper, and salt. An abundance of oil, for burning and for soap-making, may be obtained from the pulp. The seeds yield a deep, indelible black juice, which is used for marking linen.

337. PH[OE]NIX DACTYLIFERA.—The date palm, very extensively grown for its fruit, which affords the principal food for a large portion of the inhabitants of Africa, Asia, and southern Europe, and likewise of the various domestic animals—dogs, horses, and camels being alike partial to it. The tree attains to a great age, and bears annually for two hundred years. The huts of the poorer classes are constructed of the leaves: the fiber surrounding the bases of their stalks is used for making ropes and coarse cloth; the stalks are used for the manufacture of baskets, brooms, crates, walking sticks, etc., and the wood for building substantial houses; the heart of young leaves is eaten as a vegetable; the sap affords an intoxicating beverage. It may be further mentioned that the date was, probably, the palm which supplied the "branches of palm trees" mentioned by St. John (xii, 13) as having been carried by the people who went to meet Christ on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and from which Palm Sunday takes its name.

338. PHORMIUM TENAX.—This plant is called New Zealand flax, on account of the leaves containing a large quantity of strong, useful fiber, which is used by the natives of that country for making strings, ropes, and articles of clothing. The plant could be grown in this climate, and would no doubt be largely cultivated if some efficient mode of separating the fiber could be discovered.

339. PHOTINIA JAPONICA.—The Japanese Medlar, or Chinese Lo-quat. It bears a small oval fruit of an orange color when ripe, having a pleasant subacid flavor. It stands ordinary winters in this climate, and forms a fine evergreen, medium-sized tree.

340. PHYSOSTIGMA VENENOSUM.—A strong leguminous plant, the seeds of which are highly poisonous, and are employed by the natives of Old Calabar as an ordeal. Persons suspected of witchcraft or other crimes are compelled to eat them until they vomit or die, the former being regarded as proof of innocence, and the latter of guilt. Recently the seeds have been found to act powerfully in diseases of the eye.

341. PHYTELEPHAS MACROCARPA.—The vegetable ivory plant, a native of the northern parts of South America. The fruit consists of a collection of six or seven drupes; each contains from six to nine seeds, the vegetable ivory of commerce. The seeds at first contain a clear, insipid liquid; afterwards it becomes milky and sweet, and changes by degrees until it becomes hard as ivory. Animals eat the fruit in its young green state; a sweet oily pulp incloses the seeds, and is collected and sold in the markets under the name of Pipa de Jagua. Vegetable ivory may be distinguished from animal ivory by means of sulphuric acid, which gives a bright red color with the vegetable ivory, but none with the animal ivory.

342. PICRASMA EXCELSA.—This yields the bitter wood known as Jamaica Quassia. The tree is common in Jamaica, where it attains the height of 50 feet. The wood is of a whitish or yellow color, and has an intensely bitter taste. Although it is used as a medicine in cases of weak digestion, it acts as a narcotic poison on some animals, and the tincture is used as fly poison. Cups made of this wood, when filled with water and allowed to remain for some time, will impart tonic properties to the water.

343. PINCKNEYA PUBENS.—This cinchonaceous plant is a native of the Southern States and has a reputation as an antiperiodic. It is stated that incomplete examinations have detected cinchonine in the bark. It has been used successfully as a substitute for quinine. A thorough examination of this plant seems desirable so that its exact medical value may be ascertained.

344. PIPER BETEL.—This plant belongs to the Piperaceae. Immense quantities of the leaves of this plant are chewed by the Malays. It tinges the saliva a bright red and acts as a powerful stimulant to the digestive organs and salivary glands; when swallowed it causes giddiness and other unpleasant symptoms in persons unaccustomed to its use.

345. PIPER NIGRUM.—This twining shrub yields the pepper of commerce. It is cultivated in the East and West Indies, Java, etc., the Malabar being held in the highest esteem. The fruit when ripe is of a red color, but it is gathered before being fully ripe and dried in the sun, when it becomes black and shriveled. White pepper is the same fruit with the skin removed. When analyzed, pepper is found to contain a hot acrid resin and a volatile oil, as well as a crystalline substance called piperin, which has been recommended as a substitute for quinine.

346. PISTACIA LENTISCUS.—The mastic tree, a native of southern Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. Mastic is the resin of the tree and is obtained by making transverse incisions in the bark, from which it exudes in drops and hardens into small semitransparent tears. It is consumed in large quantities by the Turks for chewing to strengthen the gums and sweeten the breath. It is also used for varnishing.

347. PISTACIA TEREBINTHUS.—The Cyprus turpentine tree. The turpentine flows from incisions made in the trunk and soon becomes thick and tenacious, and ultimately hardens. Galls gathered from this tree are used for tanning purposes, one of the varieties of morocco leather being tanned with them.

348. PISTACIA VERA.—The pistacia tree, which yields the eatable pistachio nuts. It is a native of western Asia. The nuts are greatly eaten by the Turks and Greeks, as well as in the south of Europe, either simply dried like almonds or made into articles of confectionery.

349. PITHECOLOBIUM SAMAN.—This leguminous plant yields eatable pods, which are fed to cattle in Brazil. Some Mexican species produce pods that are boiled and eaten, and certain portions contain saponaceous properties. The pods are sometimes called Manila tamarinds. The leaves of this tree fold closely up at night, so that they do not prevent the radiation of heat from the surface of the ground, and dew is therefore deposited underneath its branches. The grass on the surface of the ground underneath this tree being thus wet with dew, while that under other trees is found to be dry, has given it the name of rain tree, under the supposition that the leaves dropped water during the night.

350. PITTOSPORUM UNDULATUM.—A plant from New Zealand, which reaches a considerable size, and furnishes a wood similar to boxwood. The flowers are very fragrant.

351. PLAGIANTHUS BETULINUS.—The inner bark of the young branches of this plant yields a very fine fiber, sometimes called New Zealand cotton, though more like flax than cotton; it is the Akaroa of the New Zealanders. In Tasmania it bears the name of Currajong. Good cordage and twine for fishing nets are made from this fiber. A superior paper pulp is prepared from the wood; it is also employed in making handles to baskets, rims for sieves, and hoops for barrels.

352. PLATONIA INSIGNIS.—A Brazilian tree which bears a fruit known in that country as Pacoury-uva. The pulp of this fruit is semiacid, very delicious, and is employed in making preserves. The seeds embedded in this pulp have the flavor of almonds.

353. PLUMBAGO SCANDENS.—The root of this plant is called Herbe du Diable in San Domingo; it is acrid in the highest degree, and is a most energetic blistering agent when fresh.

354. PLUMERIA ALBA.—A South American plant. The flowers are used in perfumery, and furnish the scent known as Frangipane or Frangipani. In Jamaica the plant is known as red jasmine.

355. POGOSTEMON PATCHOULY.—This plant affords the celebrated patchouli perfume. The peculiar odor of patchouli is disagreeable to some, but is very popular with many persons. The odoriferous part of the plant is the leaves and young tops, which yield a volatile oil by distillation, from which an essence is prepared; satchels of patchouli are made of coarsely powdered leaves. Genuine Indian shawls and Indian ink were formerly distinguished by their odor of this perfume, but the test does not now hold good. Ill effects, such as loss of sleep, nervous attacks, etc., have been ascribed to its extensive use.

356. PONGAMIA GLABRA.—Some years ago this tree was recommended as suitable for avenue-planting in the south of France. In India an oil called poonga is expressed from the seeds, which is much used for mixing with lamp oil. It is of a deep yellow color, and is fluid at temperatures above 60 deg. F., but below that it becomes solid.

357. PORTLANDIA GRANDIFLORA.—This plant belongs to the cinchonaceous family, and is said to possess properties similar to those of the true cinchona. The bark is exceedingly bitter.

358. PSIDIUM CATTLEYANUM.—This is the purple guava from China. The fruits are filled with juicy, pale flesh, of a very agreeable acid-sweet flavor.

359. PSIDIUM PYRIFERUM.—The West Indian guava, a well-known fruit in the tropics, but only known here in the shape of guava jelly. The wood of the tree has a fine, close grain, and has been experimented with as a substitute for boxwood for engraving purposes, but it is too soft to stand the pressure of printing.

360. PSYCHOTRIA LEUCANTHA.—A plant belonging to the cinchona family. Emetic properties are assigned to the roots, which are also used in dyeing. Native of Peru.

361. PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM.—This tree affords gum-kino, which is obtained by making incisions in the bark, from which the juice exudes and hardens into a brittle mass, easily broken into small angular, shining fragments of a bright ruby color. It is highly astringent. The wood is hard and valuable for manufacturing purposes.

362. PUNICA GRANATUM.—The pomegranate, a native of northern Africa and western Asia. The fruit is valued in warm countries on account of its delicious cooling and refreshing pulp. Numerous varieties are grown, some being sweet and vinous, and others acid or of a bitter, stringent taste; the color also varies from light to dark red. The bark of the root abounds in a peculiar principle called punicin. This bark appears to have been known to the ancients, and used by them as a vermifuge, and is still used in Hindostan as a specific against tapeworm. The rind of the fruit of the bitter varieties contains a large amount of tannin, and is used for tanning morocco leather. The flowers yield a red dye.

363. QUASSIA AMARA.—The wood of this plant furnishes Surinam quassia. It is destitute of smell, but has an intensely bitter taste, and is used as a tonic. The root has also reputed medicinal value, as also have the flowers.

364. QUILLAJA SAPONARIA.—The Quillai or Cully of the Chilians. Its bark is called soap-bark, and is rough and dark-colored externally, but internally consists of numerous regular whitish or yellowish layers, and contains a large quantity of carbonate of lime and other mineral matters. It is also rich in saponine, and is used for washing clothes; 2 ounces of the bark is sufficient to wash a dress. It also removes all spots or stains, and imparts a fine luster to wool; when powdered and rubbed between the hands in water, it makes a foam like soap. It is to be found in commerce.

365. RANDIA ACULEATA.—A small tree native of the West Indies, also found in southern Florida. In the West Indies the fruit is used for producing a blue dye, and medicinal properties are assigned to the bark.

366. RAPHIA TAEDIGERA.—The Jupati palm. The leaf-stalks of this plant are used by the natives of the Amazon for a variety of purposes, such as constructing inside walls, making boxes and baskets, etc. R. vinifera, the Bamboo palm, is similarly used by the Africans, who also make a very pliable cloth of the undeveloped leaves. Palm wine is one of the products of the genus.

367. RAVENALA MADAGASCARIENSIS.—This plant is called the Traveler's tree, probably on account of the water which is stored up in the large cup-like sheaths of the leaf-stalks, and which is sought for by travelers to allay their thirst. The broad leaves are used in Madagascar as thatch to cover their houses. The seeds are edible, and the blue, pulpy aril surrounding them yields an essential oil.

368. RHAPIS FLABELLIFORMIS.—The ground rattan palm. This is supposed to yield the walking-canes known as rattan, which is doubted. It is a native of southern China, and is also found in Japan, where it is known by the name of Kwanwortsik.

369. RHIZOPHORA MANGLE.—This plant is known as the mangrove, possibly because no man can live in the swampy groves that are covered with it in tropical countries. The seeds germinate, or form roots before they quit the parent tree, and drop into the mud as young trees. The old plants send out aerial roots into the water, upon which the mollusca adhere, and as the tide recedes they are seen clinging to the shoots, verifying the statements of old travelers that they had seen oysters growing on trees. All parts of this tree contain tannin. The bark yields dyes, and in the West Indies the leaves are used for poulticing wounds. The fruit is edible; a coarse, brittle salt is extracted from the roots, and in the Philippines the bark is used as a febrifuge.

370. ROTTLERA TINCTORIA.—This plant belongs to the order Euphorbiaceae, and reaches the size of a small tree in the Indian Archipelago and southern Australia. From the surface of the trilobed capsules of this plant, which are about the size of peas, a red, mealy powder is obtained, well known in India as kamala, and which is used by Hindoo silk-dyers, who obtain from it a deep, bright, durable orange or flame color of great beauty. This is obtained by boiling the powder in a solution of carbonate of soda. When the capsules are ripe the red powder is brushed off and collected for sale, no other preparation being necessary to preserve it. It is also used medicinally as an anthelmintic and has been successfully used in cases of tapeworm. A solution removes freckles and pustules and eruptions on the skin.

371. RUELLIA INDIGOTICA.—This small bush is extensively cultivated in China for the preparation of a blue coloring-matter of the nature of indigo. The pigment is prepared from the entire plant by a process similar to that employed in procuring the common indigo. It is sold in China in a pasty state. The water in which the plant is steeped is mixed with lime and rapidly agitated, when the coloring deposits at the bottom of the vessel.

372. SABAL ADANSONII.—This dwarf palm is a native of the Southern States. The leaves are made into fans, and the soft interior of the stem is edible.

373. SABAL UMBRACULIFERA.—This is a West Indian palm; the leaves are used for various purposes, such as making mats, huts, etc.

374. SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM.—The sugar cane. Where the sugar cane was first cultivated is unknown, but it is supposed to have been in the East Indies, for the Venetians imported it from thence by the Red Sea prior to the year 1148. It is supposed to have been introduced into the islands of Sicily, Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus by the Saracens, as abundance of sugar was made in these islands previous to the discovery of the West Indies in 1492 by the Spaniards, and the East Indies and Brazil by the Portuguese in 1497 and 1560. It was cultivated afterwards in Spain, in Valentia, Granada, and Murcia by the Moors. In the fifteenth century it was introduced into the Canary Islands by the Spaniards and to Madeira by the Portuguese, and thence to the West India Islands and to Brazil. The Dutch began to make sugar in the island of St. Thomas in the year 1610 and in Jamaica in 1644. Its culture has since become general in warm climates and its use universal.

375. SAGUERUS SACCHARIFER.—The arenga palm, which is of great value to the Malays. The black horsehair like fiber surrounding its leaf-stalks is made into cordage; a large amount of toddy or palm wine is obtained by cutting off the flower spikes, which, when inspissated, affords sugar, and when fermented a capital vinegar. Considerable quantities of inferior sago and several other products of minor importance are derived from this palm.

376. SAGUS RUMPHII.—This palm produces the sago of commerce, which is prepared from the soft inner portion of the trunk. It is obtained by cutting the trunk into small pieces, which are split and the soft substance scooped out and pounded in water till the starchy substance separates and settles. This is sago meal; but before being exported it is made into what is termed pearl sago. This is a Chinese process, principally carried on at Singapore. The meal is washed, strained, and spread out to dry; it is then broken up, pounded, and sifted until it is of a regular size. Small quantities being then placed in bags, these are shaken about until it becomes granulated or pearled.

377. SALVADORA PERSICA.—This is supposed to be the plant that produced the mustard seed spoken of in the Scriptures.

378. SANDORICUM INDICUM.—A tropical tree, sometimes called the Indian sandal tree, which produces a fruit like an apple, of agreeable acid flavor. The root of the tree has some medicinal value.

379. SANSEVIERA GUINEENSIS.—Called the African bowstring hemp, from the fibers of the leaves being used for bowstrings.

380. SANTALUM ALBUM.—This tree yields the true sandalwood of India. This fragrant wood is in two colors, procured from the same tree; the yellow-colored wood is from the heart and the white-colored from the exterior, the latter not so fragrant. The Chinese manufacture it into musical instruments, small cabinets, boxes, and similar articles, which are insect proof. From shavings of the wood an essential oil is distilled, which is used in perfumery.

381. SAPINDUS SAPONARIA.—The soapberry tree. The fruit of this plant is about the size of a large gooseberry, the outer covering or shell of which contains a saponaceous principle in sufficient abundance to produce a lather with water and is used as a substitute for soap. The seeds are hard, black, and round, and are used for making rosaries and necklaces, and at one time were covered for buttons. Oil is also extracted from the seeds and is known as soap oil.

382. SAPIUM INDICUM.—A widely distributed Asiatic tree which yields an acrid, milky juice, which, as also the leaves of the plant, furnishes a kind of dye. The fruit in its green state is acid, and is eaten as a condiment in Borneo.

383. SAPOTA ACHRAS.—The fruit of this plant is known in the West Indies as the sapodilla plum. It is highly esteemed by the inhabitants; the bark of the tree is astringent and febrifugal; the seeds are aperient and diuretic.

384. SAPOTA MULLERI.—The bully or balata tree of British Guiana, which furnishes a gum somewhat intermediate between India rubber and gutta-percha, being nearly as elastic as the first without the brittleness and friability of the latter, and requiring a high temperature to melt or soften it.

385. SCHINUS MOLLE.—The root of this plant is used medicinally and the resin that exudes from the tree is employed to astringe the gums. The leaves are so filled with resinous fluid that when they are immersed in water it is expelled with such violence as to have the appearance of spontaneous motion in consequence of the recoil. The fruits are of the size of pepper corns and are warm to the taste. The pulp surrounding the seeds is made into a kind of beverage by the Mexican Indians. The plant is sometimes called Mexican pepper.

386. SCHOTIA SPECIOSA.—A small tree of South Africa called Boerboom at the Cape of Good Hope. The seeds or beans are cooked and eaten as food. The bark is used for tanning purposes and as an astringent in medicine.

387. SEAFORTHIA ELEGANS.—This palm is a native of the northern part of Australia, where it is utilized by the natives. The seeds have a granular fibrous rind, and are spotted and marked like a nutmeg.

388. SELAGINELLA LEPIDOPHYLLA.—This species of club moss is found in southern California, and has remarkable hygrometric qualities. Its natural growth is in circular roseate form, and fully expanded when the air is moist, but rolling up like a ball when it becomes dry. It remains green and acts in this peculiar manner for a long time after being gathered. Of late years numbers have been distributed throughout the country under the names of "Rose of Jericho" and "Resurrection Plant." This is, however, quite distinct from the true Rose of Jericho, Anastatica hierochuntica, a native of the Mediterranean region, from Syria to Algeria. This plant, when growing and in flower, has branches spread rigidly, but when the seed ripens the leaves wither, and the whole plant becomes dry, each little branch curling inward until the plant appears like a small ball; it soon becomes loosened from the soil, and is carried by the winds over the dry plains, and is often blown into the sea, where it at once expands. It retains this property of expanding when moistened for at least ten years.

389. SEMECARPUS ANACARDIUM.—The marking nut tree of India. The thick, fleshy receptacle bearing the fruit is of a yellow color when ripe, and is roasted and eaten. The unripe fruit is employed in making a kind of ink. The hard shell of the fruit is permeated by a corrosive juice, which is used on external bruises and for destroying warts. The juice, when mixed with quick-lime, is used to mark cotton or linen with an indelible mark. When dry it forms a dark varnish, and among other purposes it is employed, mixed with pitch and tar, in the calking of ships. The seeds, called Malacca beans, or marsh nuts, are eaten, and are said to stimulate the mental powers, and especially the memory; and finally they furnish an oil used in painting.

390. SERISSA F[OE]TIDA.—A cinchonaceous shrub, having strong astringent properties. The roots are employed in cases of diarrhea, also in ophthalmia and certain forms of ulcers. It is a native of Japan and China.

391. SHOREA ROBUSTA.—This tree produces the Saul wood of India, which has a very high reputation, and is extensively employed for all engineering purposes where great strength and toughness are requisite. It is stronger and much heavier than teak. An oil is obtained from the seeds, and a resin similar to Dammar resin is likewise obtained from the tree.

392. SIDA PULCHELLA.—A plant of the mallow family; the bark contains fibrous tissues available for the manufacture of cordage. The root of S. acuta is esteemed by the Hindoos as a medicine, and particularly as a remedy for snake bites. The light wood of these species is used to make rocket sticks.

393. SIMABA CEDRON.—A native of New Grenada, where it attains the size of a small tree, and bears a large fruit containing one seed; this seed, which looks like a blanched almond, is known in commerce as the cedron. As a remedy for snake bites it has been known from time immemorial in New Grenada. It is mentioned in the books of the seventeenth century. Recently it has obtained a reputation as a febrifuge, but its value as an antidote to the bites of snakes and scorpions is universally believed, and the inhabitants carry a seed with them in all their journeyings; if they happen to be bitten by any venomous reptile they scrape about two grains of the seed in brandy or water and apply it to the wound, at the same time taking a like dose internally. This neutralizes the most dangerous poisons.

394. SIMARUBA OFFICINALIS.—This tree yields the drug known as Simaruba bark, which is, strictly speaking, the rind of the root. It is a bitter tonic. It is known in the West Indies as the mountain damson.

395. SIPHONIA ELASTICA.—The South American rubber plant, from which a great portion of the caoutchouc of commerce is obtained. There are several species of siphonia which, equally with the above, furnish the India rubber exported from Para. The caoutchouc exists in the tree in the form of a thin, white milk, which exudes from incisions made in the trunk, and is poured over molds, which were formerly shaped like jars, bottles, or shoes, hence often called bottle rubber. As it dries, the coatings of milky juice are repeated until the required thickness is obtained, and the clay mold removed. It belongs to the extensive family Euphorbiaceae.

396. SMILAX MEDICA.—This plant yields Mexican sarsaparilla, so called to distinguish it from the many other kinds of this drug. The plant is a climber, similar to the smilax of our woods.

397. SPONDIAS MOMBIN.—This yields an eatable fruit called hog plum in the West Indies. The taste is said to be peculiar, and not very agreeable to strangers. It is chiefly used to fatten swine. The fruit is laxative, the leaves astringent, and the seeds possess poisonous qualities. The flower buds are used as a sweetmeat with sugar.

398. STRELITZIA REGINAE.—A plant of the Musa or banana family. The flowers are very beautiful for the genus. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. The seeds are gathered and eaten by the Kaffirs.

399. STRYCHNOS NUX-VOMICA.—This is a native of the Coromandel coast and Cochin-China. It bears an orange-like fruit, containing seeds that have an intensely bitter taste, owing to the presence of two most energetic poisons, strychnine and brucine. The pulp surrounding the seeds is said to be harmless, and greedily eaten by birds. The wood of the plant is hard and bitter, and possesses similar properties to the seeds, but in a less degree. It is used in India in intermittent fevers and in cases of snake bites. S. tiente is a Java shrub, the juice of which is used in poisoning arrows. S. toxifera yields a frightful poison called Ourari or Wourari, employed by the natives of Guiana. This is considered to be the most potent sedative in nature. Several species of Strychnos are considered infallible remedies for snake bites; hence are known as snakewood. S. pseudo-quina, a native of Brazil, yields Colpache bark, which is much used in that country in cases of fever, and is considered equal to quinine in value. It does not contain strychnine, and its fruits are edible. S. potatorum furnishes seeds known in India as clearing-nuts, on account of their use in clearing muddy water. St. Ignatius beans are supposed to be yielded by a species of Strychnos, from the quantity of strychnine contained in the seeds.

400. SWIETENIA MAHAGONI.—This South American plant furnishes the timber known in commerce as mahogany. The bark is considered a febrifuge, and the seeds prepared with oil were used by the ancient Aztecs as a cosmetic. The timber is well known, and much used in the manufacture of furniture.

401. TACCA PINNATIFIDA.—This is sometimes called South Sea arrowroot. The tubers contain a great amount of starch, which is obtained by rasping them and macerating four or five days in water, when the fecula separates in the same manner as sago. It is largely used as an article of diet throughout the tropics, and is a favorite ingredient for puddings and cakes.

402. TAMARINDUS INDICA.—The tamarind tree. There are two varieties of this species. The East Indian variety has long pods, with six to twelve seeds. The variety cultivated in the West Indies has shorter pods, containing one to four seeds. Tamarinds owe their grateful acidity to the presence of citric, tartaric, and other vegetable acids. The pulp mixed with salt is used for a liniment by the Creoles of the Mauritius. Every part of the plant has had medicinal virtues ascribed to it. Fish pickled with tamarinds are considered a great delicacy. It is said that the acid moisture exhaled by the leaves injures the cloth of tents that remain under them for any length of time. It is also considered unsafe to sleep under the trees.

403. TANGHINIA VENENIFERA.—This plant is a native of Madagascar, and of the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, when the custom of trial by ordeal was more prevalent than now, the seeds of this plant were in great repute, and unlimited confidence was placed in the poisonous seeds as a detector of guilt. The seeds were pounded, and a small piece swallowed by each person to be tried; those in whom it caused vomiting were allowed to escape, but when it was retained in the stomach, it would quickly prove fatal, and their guilt was thus held to be proven.

404. TASMANNIA AROMATICA.—The bark of this plant possesses aromatic qualities, closely resembling Winter's bark. The small black fruits are used as a substitute for pepper.

405. TECTONA GRANDIS.—The teak tree. Teak wood has been extensively employed for shipbuilding in the construction of merchant vessels and ships of war; its great strength and durability, the facility with which it can be worked, and its freedom from injury by fungi, rendering it peculiarly suitable for these purposes. It is a native of the East India Islands, and belongs to the order Verbenaceae.

406. TERMINALIA CATAPPA.—The astringent fruits of this tropical plant are employed for tanning and dyeing, and are sometimes met with in commerce under the name of myrobalans, and used by calico printers for the production of a permanent black. The seeds are like almonds in shape and whiteness, but, although palatable, have a peculiar flavor.

407. TETRANTHERA LAURIFOLIA.—This plant is widely dispersed over tropical Asia and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. Its leaves and young branches abound in a viscid juice, and in Cochin-China the natives bruise and macerate them until this becomes glutinous, when it is used for mixing with plaster, to thicken and render it more adhesive and durable. Its fruits yield a solid fat, used for making candles, although it has a most disagreeable odor.

408. THEA VIRIDIS.—This is the China tea plant, whose native country is undetermined. All kinds and grades of the teas of commerce are made from this species, although probably it has some varieties. Black and green teas are the result of different modes of preparation; very much of the green, however, is artificially colored to suit the foreign trade. The finest teas do not reach this country; they will not bear a sea voyage, and are used only by the wealthy classes in China and Russia. The active principles of the leaves are theine and a volatile oil, to which latter the flavor and odor are due. So far as climate is concerned for the existence of the tea plant in the United States, it will stand in the open air without injury from Virginia southwards. A zero frost will not kill it. But with regard to its production as a profitable crop, the rainfall in no portion of the States is sufficient to warrant any attempt to cultivate the plant for commercial purposes. But this does not prevent its culture as a domestic article, and many hundreds of families thus prepare all the tea they require, from plants it may be from the pleasure ground or lawn, where the plant forms one of the best ornaments.

409. THEOBROMA CACAO.—This plant produces the well-known cacao, or chocolate, and is very extensively cultivated in South America and the West India Islands. The fruit, which is about 8 to 10 inches in length by 3 to 5 in breadth, contains between fifty and a hundred seeds, and from these the cacao is prepared. As an article of food it contains a large amount of nutritive matter, about 50 per cent being fat. It contains a peculiar principle, which is called theobromine.

410. THEOPHRASTA JUSSIAEI.—A native of St. Domingo, where it is sometimes called Le petit Coca. The fruit is succulent, and bread is made from the seeds.

411. THESPESIA POPULNEA.—A tropical tree, belonging to the mallow family. The inner bark of the young branches yields a tough fiber, fit for cordage, and used in Demerara for making coffee bags, and the finer pieces of it for cigar envelopes. The wood is considered almost indestructible under water, and its hardness and durability render it valuable for various purposes. The flower buds and unripe fruits yield a viscid yellow juice, useful as a dye, and a thick, deep, red-colored oil is expressed from the seeds.

412. THEVETIA NERIIFOLIA.—This shrubby plant is common in the West Indies and in many parts of Central America. Its bark abounds in a poisonous milky juice, and is said to possess powerful properties. A clear, bright, yellow-colored oil, called Exile oil, is obtained, by expression, from the seeds.

413. THRINAX ARGENTEA.—This beautiful palm is called the Silver Thatch palm of Jamaica, and is said to yield the leaves so extensively used in the manufacture of hats, baskets, and other articles. It is also a native of Panama, where it is called the broom palm, its leaves being there made into brooms.

414. TILLANDSIA ZEBRINA.—A South American plant of the pineapple family; the bottle-like cavity at the base of the leaves will sometimes contain a pint or more of water, and has frequently furnished a grateful drink to thirsty travelers.

415. TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA.—A climbing plant, so tenacious of life that when the stem is cut across or broken, a rootlet is speedily sent down from above, which continues to grow until it reaches the ground. A bitter principle, calumbine, pervades the plant. An extract called galuncha is prepared from it, considered to be a specific for the bites of poisonous insects and for ulcers. The young shoots are used as emetics.

416. TRIPHASIA TRIFOLIATA.—A Chinese shrub, with fruit about the size of hazelnuts, red-skinned, and of an agreeable sweet taste; when green, they have a strong flavor of turpentine, and the pulp is very sticky. They are also preserved whole in sirup, and are sometimes called limeberries.

417. TRISTANIA NERIIFOLIA.—A myrtaceous plant from Australia, called the turpentine tree, owing to its furnishing a fluid resembling that product.

418. URCEOLA ELASTICA.—A plant belonging to the Apocynaceae, a native of the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, where its milky juice, collected by making incisions in its soft, thick, rugged bark, or by cutting the trunk into junks, forms one of the kinds of caoutchouc called juitawan, but it is inferior to the South American, chiefly owing to want of care in its preparation, the milky juice being simply coagulated by mixing with salt water, instead of being gradually inspissated in layers on a mold. The fruit contains a pulp which is much eaten by the natives.

419. URENA LOBATA.—A malvaceous plant, possessing mucilaginous properties, for which it is used medicinally. The bark affords an abundance of fiber, resembling jute rather than flax or hemp.

420. UVARIA ODORATISSIMA.—An Indian plant which is supposed to yield the essential oil called Ylang-Ylang, or Alan-gilan. This oil is obtained by distillation from the flowers, and is highly esteemed by perfumers, having an exquisite odor partaking of the jasmine and lilac.

421. VANGUERIA EDULIS.—A cinchonaceous plant, the fruits of which are eaten in Madagascar under the name of Voa-vanga. The leaves are used in medicine.

422. VANILLA PLANIFOLIA.—The vanilla plant, which belongs to the orchid family. The fruit is used by confectioners and others for flavoring creams, liquors, and chocolates. There are several species, but this gives the finest fruit. It is a climbing orchid, and is allowed to climb on trees when cultivated for its fruit. In Mexico, from whence is procured a large portion of the fruit, it is cultivated in certain favorable localities near the Gulf coast, where the climate is warm. Much of the value of the bean depends upon the process of its preparation for the market. In Mexico, where much care is given to this process, the pods are gathered before they are fully ripe and placed in a heap, under protection from the weather, until they begin to shrivel, when they are submitted to a sweating process by wrapping them in blankets inclosed in tight boxes; afterwards they are exposed to the sun. They are then tied into bundles or small bales, which are first wrapped in woolen blankets, then in a coating of banana leaves first sprinkled with water, then placed in an oven heated up to about 140 deg. F. Here they remain for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, according to the size of the pods, the largest requiring the longest time. After this heating they are exposed to the sun daily for fifty or sixty days, until they are thoroughly dried and ready for the market.

423. VATERIA INDICA.—This plant yields a useful gum resin, called Indian copal, piney varnish, white dammar, or gum anine. The resin is procured by cutting a notch in the tree, so that the juice may flow out and become hardened. It is used as a varnish for pictures, carriages, etc. On the Malabar coast it is manufactured into candles, which burn with a clear light and an agreeable fragrance. The Portuguese employ this resin instead of incense. Ornaments are fashioned from it under the name of amber. It is also employed in medicine.

424. WEINMANNIA RACEMOSA.—A New Zealand tree called Towhia by the natives of that country. Its bark is used for tanning purposes, and as a red and brown dye, which give fast colors upon cotton fabrics.

425. WRIGHTIA TINCTORIA.—The leaves of this plant furnish an inferior kind of indigo. The wood is beautifully white, close-grained, and ivory-like, and is much used for making Indian toys.

426. XANTHORRH[OE]A ARBOREA.—The grass gum tree of Australia, also called black boy. This is a liliaceous plant, which produces a long flower-stalk, bearing at the top an immense cylindrical flower-spike, and when the short black stem is denuded of leaves, the plants look very like black men holding spears. The leaves afford good fodder for cattle, and the tender white center is used as a vegetable. A fragrant resin, called acaroid resin, is obtained from it.

427. XIMENIA AMERICANA.—A small tree, found in many warm regions; among others in southern Florida. In Brazil it is called the Native Plum on account of its small yellow fruits, which have a subacid and somewhat astringent aromatic taste. The wood is odoriferous and is used in the West Indies as a substitute for sandalwood.

428. YUCCA AL[OE]FOLIA.—The yucca leaves afford a good fiber, and some southern species are known as bear's grass. The root stems also furnish a starchy matter, which has been rendered useful in the manufacture of starch.

429. ZAMIA FURFURACEA.—This plant belongs to the order Cycadaceae, and is grown to some extent for the starchy matter contained in the stem, which is collected and used as arrowroot; but it is not the true arrowroot, that being produced by a species of Maranta.

430. ZAMIA INTEGRIFOLIA.—The coontie plant of Florida. The large succulent roots afford a quantity of arrowroot, said to be equal to the best of that from Bermuda. The fruit has a coating of an orange-colored pulp, which is said to form a rich edible food. It was from the roots of this plant that the Seminoles of Florida obtained their white meal.

431. ZINGIBER OFFICINALE.—This plant is cultivated in most warm countries for the sake of its rhizomes, which furnish the spice called ginger. It is prepared by digging up the roots when a year old, scraping them, and drying them in the sun. Ginger, when broken across, shows a number of little fibers embedded in floury tissue. Its hot pungent taste is due to a volatile oil. It also contains starch and yellow coloring matter. Ginger is used for various medicinal purposes, and in many ways as a condiment, and in the preparation of cordials and so-called teas.



Transcriber's Endnotes

The following list details significant changes to the originally published text, along with other noteworthy points:

Page 4. "Acacia deal bata" amended to Acacia dealbata.

Page 5. "Amomum meleguetta" amended to Amomum melegueta.

Page 6. "Andropogon schaenanthus" amended to Andropogon sch[oe]nanthus.

Page 7. "Araucaria bidwilli" amended to Araucaria bidwillii.

Page 7. "Araucaria cunninghami" amended to Araucaria cunninghamii.

Page 9. "Beaucarnea recurvifolia" remains as printed but could be an earlier classification of Beaucarnea recurvata based upon the description.

Page 9. "Bergera konigi" amended to Bergera koenigii.

Page 10. "Brosium alicastrum" amended to Brosimum alicastrum.

Page 10. "Caesalpina pulcherrima" amended to Caesalpinia pulcherrima.

Page 11. "Callistemon salignum" amended to Callistemon salignus.

Page 13. "Cinchonacae" amended to Cinchonaceae.

Page 13. "Chamaerops fortunii" amended to Chamaerops fortunei.

Page 17. "Croton calsamiferum" amended to Croton balsamiferum.

Page 18. "Dialium acutifolium" remains as printed but could be an earlier classification of Dialium cochinchinense or Codarium acutifolium.

Page 19. "Dubosia hopwoodii" amended to Duboisia hopwoodii.

Page 22. "Feuillaea cordifolia" amended to Fevillea cordifolia.

Page 22. "Fourcroya cubense" remains as printed but probably refers to Furcraea cubensis.

Page 23. "Gastrolobium bilobium" amended to Gastrolobium bilobum.

Page 24. "Roselee" amended to Roselle.

Page 25. "Hyphae thebaica" amended to Hyphaene thebaica.

Page 25. "Ipomaea purga" amended to Ipom[oe]a purga.

Page 26. "Jatropha clauca" remains as printed but probably refers to Jatropha glauca.

Page 26. "Krameria triandria" amended to Krameria triandra.

Page 27. "Leptosperum lanigerum" amended to Leptospermum lanigerum.

Page 27. "Livistonia australis" amended to Livistona australis.

Page 27. "Machaerum firmum" amended to Machaerium firmum.

Page 29. "Monstera dellciosa" amended to Monstera deliciosa.

Page 30. "Myrosperum toluiferum" amended to Myrospermum toluiferum.

Page 31. "Ophiorhiza mungos" amended to Ophiorrhiza mungos.

Page 35. "Plumieria alba" amended to Plumeria alba.

Page 35. "puniein" amended to punicin.

Page 36. "Raphia t[oe]digera" amended to Raphia taedigera.

Page 37. "Sabal adansoni" amended to Sabal adansonii.

Page 38. "Anastatica hierochuntina" amended to Anastatica hierochuntica.

Page 39. "Strelitzia regina" amended to Strelitzia reginae.

Page 39. "Strychnos nux vomica" amended to Strychnos nux-vomica.

Page 41. "Tristania nerifolia" amended to Tristania neriifolia.

THE END