by Humboldt and Bonpland, who found it on elevated mountains,
extending as high as the lower limit of perpetual snow. Its tall
trunk is covered with a thin coating of a whitish waxy substance,
giving it a marbled appearance. The waxy substance forms an
article of commerce, and is obtained by scraping the trunk. It
consists of two parts of resin and one wax, and, when mixed with
one third of tallow, it makes very good candles. The stem is used
for building purposes, and the leaves for thatching roofs.
107. CHAMÆDOREA ELEGANS.--This belongs to a genus of palms native of
South America. The plant is of tall, slender growth; the stems are
used for walking canes, and the young, unexpanded flower spikes
are used as a vegetable.
108. CHAMÆROPS FORTUNEI.--This palm is a native of the north of China,
and is nearly hardy here. In China, the coarse brown fibers
obtained from the leaves are used for making hats and also
garments called So-e, worn in wet weather.
109. CHAMÆROPS HUMILIS.--This is the only European species of palm, and
does not extend farther north than Nice. The leaves are commonly
used in the south of Europe for making hats, brooms, baskets, etc.
From the leaf fiber a material resembling horse hair is prepared,
and the Arabs mix it with camel's hair for their tent covers.
110. CHAVICA BETEL.--This plant is found all over the East Indies,
where its leaf is largely used by Indian natives as a masticatory.
Its consumption is immense, and has been said to equal that of
tobacco by Western peoples. It is prepared for chewing by
inclosing in the leaves a slice of the areca nut, and a small
portion of lime. It is thought to act as a stimulant to the
digestive organs, but causes giddiness and other unpleasant
symptoms to those not accustomed to its use.
111. CHIOCOCCA RACEMOSA.--This plant is found in many warm countries,
such as in southern Florida. It is called cahinca in Brazil, where
a preparation of the bark of the root is employed as a remedy for
snake bites. Almost every locality where snakes exist has its
local remedies for poisonous bites, but they rarely prove to be
efficient when truthfully and fairly tested.
112. CHLORANTHUS OFFICINALIS.--The roots of this plant are an aromatic
stimulant, much used as medicine in the Island of Java; also, when
mixed with anise, it has proved valuable in malignant smallpox.
113. CHLOROXYLON SWIETENIA.--The satinwood tree of tropical countries.
It is principally used for making the backs of clothes and hair
brushes, and for articles of turnery-ware; the finest mottled
pieces are cut into veneers and used for cabinet-making.
114. CHRYSOBALANUS ICACO.--The cocoa plum of the West Indies. The
fruits are about the size of a plum, and are of various colors,
white, yellow, red, or purple. The pulp is sweet, a little
austere, but not disagreeable. The fruits are preserved and
exported from Cuba and other West India Islands. The kernels yield
a fixed oil, and an emulsion made with them is used medicinally.
115. CHRYSOPHYLLUM CAINITO.--The fruit of this plant is known in the
West Indies as the star apple, the interior of which, when cut
across, shows ten cells, and as many seeds disposed regularly
round the center, giving a star-like appearance, as stars are
generally represented in the most reliable almanacs. It receives
its botanic name from the golden silky color on the under side of
the leaves.
116. CICCA DISTICHA.--This Indian plant is cultivated in many parts
under the name of Otaheite gooseberry. The fruits resemble those
of a green gooseberry. They have an acid flavor; are used for
preserving or pickling, and eaten either in a raw state or cooked
in various ways.
117. CINCHONA CALISAYA.--The yellow bark of Bolivia. This is one of the
so-called Peruvian Bark trees. The discovery of the medicinal
value of this bark is a matter of fable and conjecture. The name
cinchona is derived from that of the wife of a viceroy of Peru,
who is said to have taken the drug from South America to Europe in
1639. Afterwards the Jesuits used it; hence it is sometimes called
Jesuit's bark. It was brought most particularly into notice when
Louis XIV of France purchased of Sir R. Talbor, an Englishman, his
heretofore secret remedy for intermittent fever, and made it
public.
There are various barks in commerce classified under the head of
Peruvian barks. Their great value depends upon the presence of
certain alkaloid substances called quinine, cinchonine, and
quinidine, which exist in the bark in combination with tannic and
other acids. Quinine is the most useful of these alkaloids, and
this is found in greatest quantities in Calisaya bark. The gray
bark of Huanuco is derived from _Cinchona micrantha_, which is
characterized by its yield of cinchonine, and the Loxa or Loja
barks are furnished in part by _Cinchona officinalis_, and are
especially rich in quinidine. There is some uncertainty about the
trees that produce the various kinds of bark. These trees grow in
the forests of Bolivia and Peru, at various elevations on the
mountains, but chiefly in sheltered mountain valleys, and all of
them at a considerable distance below the frost or snow line. They
are destroyed by the slightest frost. Plants of various species
have been distributed from time to time, in localities which
seemed most favorable to their growth, but all reports from these
distributions have, so far, been discouraging.
118. CINNAMOMUM CASSIA.--This furnishes cassia bark, which is much
like cinnamon, but thicker, coarser, stronger, less delicate in
flavor, and cheaper; hence it is often used to adulterate
cinnamon. The unexpanded flower buds are sold as cassia buds,
possessing properties similar to those of the bark. It is grown
in southern China, Java, and tropical countries generally.
119. CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM.--A tree belonging to _Lauraceæ_, which
furnishes the best cinnamon. It is prepared by stripping the bark
from the branches, when it rolls up into quills, the smaller of
which are introduced into the larger, and then dried in the sun.
Cinnamon is much used as a condiment for its pleasant flavor, and
its astringent properties are of medicinal value. It is cultivated
largely in Ceylon. The cinnamon tree is too tender to become of
commercial importance in the United States. Isolated plants may be
found in southern Florida, at least it is so stated, but the area
suited to its growth must be very limited.
120. CISSAMPELOS PAREIRA.--The velvet plant of tropical countries. The
root furnishes the _Pareira brava_ of druggists, which is used in
medicine.
121. CITRUS AURANTIUM.--The orange, generally supposed to be a native
of the north of India. It was introduced into Arabia during the
ninth century. It was unknown in Europe in the eleventh century.
Oranges were cultivated at Seville towards the end of the twelfth
century, and at Palermo in the thirteenth. In the fourteenth
century they were plentiful in several parts of Italy. There are
many varieties of the orange in cultivation. The blood red, or
Malta, is much esteemed; the fruit is round, reddish-yellow
outside and the pulp irregularly mottled with crimson. The
Mandarin or Tangerine orange has a thin rind which separates
easily from the pulp, and is very sweet and rich. The St.
Michael's orange is one of the most productive and delicious
varieties, with a thin rind and very sweet pulp. The Seville or
bitter orange is used for the manufacture of bitter tincture and
candied orange-peel. The Bergamot orange has peculiarly fragrant
flowers and fruit, from each of which an essence of a delicious
quality is extracted.
122. CITRUS DECUMANA.--The shaddock, which has the largest fruit of the
family. It is a native of China and Japan, where it is known as
sweet ball. The pulp is acid or subacid, and in some varieties
nearly sweet. From the thickness of the skin the fruit will keep a
considerable time without injury.
123. CITRUS JAPONICA.--This is the Kum-quat of the Chinese. It forms a
small tree, or rather a large bush, and bears fruit about the size
of a large cherry. There are two forms, one bearing round fruits,
the other long, oval fruits. This fruit has a sweet rind and an
agreeably acid pulp, and is usually eaten whole without being
peeled. It forms an excellent preserve, with sugar, and is largely
used in this form.
124. CITRUS LIMETTA.--The lime, which is used for the same purposes as
the lemon, and by some preferred, the juice being considered more
wholesome and the acid more agreeable. There are several
varieties, some of them being sweet and quite insipid.
125. CITRUS LIMONUM.--The lemon; this plant is found growing naturally
in that part of India which is beyond the Ganges. It was unknown
to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is supposed to have been
brought to Italy by the Crusaders. Arabian writers of the twelfth
century notice the lemon as being cultivated in Egypt and other
places. The varieties of the lemon are very numerous and valued
for their agreeable acid juice and essential oil. They keep for a
considerable time, especially if steeped for a short period in
salt water.
126. CITRUS MEDICA.--The citron, found wild in the forests of northern
India. The Jews cultivated the citron at the time they were under
subjection to the Romans, and used the fruit in the Feast of the
Tabernacles. There is no proof of their having known the fruit in
the time of Moses, but it is supposed that they found it at
Babylon, and brought it into Palestine. The citron is cultivated
in China and Cochin-China. It is easily naturalized and the seeds
are rapidly spread. In its wild state it grows erect; the branches
are spiny, the flowers purple on the outside and white on the
inside. The fruit furnishes the essential oil of citron and the
essential oil of cedra. There are several varieties; the fingered
citron is a curious fruit, and the Madras citron is very long and
narrow; the skin is covered with protuberances.
127. CLUSIA ROSEA.--A tropical plant which yields abundantly of a
tenacious resin from its stem, which is used for the same purpose
as pitch. It is first of a green color, but when exposed to the
air it assumes a brown or reddish tint. The Caribs use it for
painting the bottoms of their boats.
128. COCCOLOBA UVIFERA.--Known in the West Indies as the seaside grape,
from the peculiarity of the perianth, which becomes pulpy and of a
violet color and surrounds the ripe fruit. The pulpy perianth has
an agreeable acid flavor. An astringent extract is prepared from
the plant which is used in medicine.
129. COCOS NUCIFERA.--The cocoanut palm. This palm is cultivated
throughout the tropics so extensively that its native country is
not known. One reason of its extensive dissemination is that it
grows so close to the sea that the ripe fruits are washed away by
the waves and afterwards cast upon far-distant shores, where they
soon vegetate. It is in this way that the coral islands of the
Indian Ocean have become covered with these palms. Every part of
this tree is put to some useful purpose. The outside rind or husk
of the fruit yields the fiber from which the well-known cocoa
matting is manufactured. Cordage, clothes, brushes, brooms, and
hats are made from this fiber, and, when curled and dyed, it is
used for stuffing mattresses and cushions. An oil is produced by
pressing the white kernel of the nut which is used for cooking
when fresh, and by pressure affords stearin, which is made into
candles, the liquid being used for lamps. The kernel is of great
importance as an article of food, and the milk affords an
agreeable beverage. While young it yields a delicious substance
resembling blanc-mange. The leaves are used for thatching, for
making mats, baskets, hats, etc.; combs are made from the hard
footstalk; the heart of the tree is used as we use cabbages. The
brown fibrous net work from the base of the leaves is used as
sieves, and also made into garments. The wood is used for building
and for furniture. The flowers are used medicinally as an
astringent and the roots as a febrifuge.
130. COCOS PLUMOSUS.--A Brazilian species, highly ornamental in its
long, arching leaves, and producing quantities of orange-colored
nuts, in size about as large as a chestnut, inclosed in an edible
pulp.
131. COFFEA ARABICA.--The coffee plant, which belongs to the
_Cinchonaceæ_ and is a native of Abyssinia, but is now cultivated
in many tropical regions. It can not be successfully cultivated in
a climate where the temperature, at any season of the year, falls
below 55 degrees, although it will exist where the temperature all
but falls short of freezing, but a low fall of temperature greatly
retards the ripening of the fruit. Ripe fruits are often gathered
from plants in the extreme south of Florida. The beans or seeds
are roasted before use, and by this process they gain nearly one
half in bulk and lose about a fifth in weight. Heat also changes
their essential qualities, causing the development of the volatile
oil and peculiar acid to which the aroma and flavor are due. The
berries contain theine; so also do the leaves, and in some
countries the latter are preferred.
132. COFFEA LIBERICA.--The Liberian coffee, cultivated in Africa, of
which country it is a native. This plant is of larger and stronger
growth than the Arabian coffee plant and the fruit is larger. This
species is of recent introduction to commerce, and although it was
reported as being more prolific than the ordinary coffee plant,
the statement has not been borne out in Brazil and Mexico, where
it has been tested. It is also more tender than the older known
species.
133. COLA ACUMINATA.--An African tree, which has been introduced into
the West Indies and Brazil for the sake of its seeds, which are
known as Cola, or Kola, or Goora nuts, and extensively used as a
sort of condiment by the natives of Africa. A small piece of one
of these seeds is chewed before each meal to promote digestion. It
possesses properties similar to the leaves of coca and contains
theine. These nuts have from time immemorial occupied a prominent
place in the dietetic economy of native tribes in Africa, and the
demand for them has established a large commercial industry in the
regions where they are obtained.
134. COLOCASIA ESCULENTA.--This plant has been recommended for
profitable culture in this country for its edible root-stock. It
is cultivated in the Sandwich Islands under the name of Tara. The
young leaves are cooked and eaten in the same manner as spinach or
greens in Egypt. They are acrid, but lose their acridity when
boiled, the water being changed. The roots are filled with starch,
and have long been used as food in various semitropical countries.
135. CONDAMINEA MACROPHYLLA.--This plant belongs to the cinchona
family, and contains tonic properties. The Peruvian bark gatherers
adulterate the true cinchona bark with this, but it may be
detected by its white inner surface, its less powerful bitter
taste, and a viscidity not possessed by the cinchonas.
136. CONVOLVULUS SCAMMONIA.--This plant furnishes the scammony of the
druggists.
137. COOKIA PUNCTATA.--A small-growing tree from China, which produces
a fruit known as the Wampee. This fruit is a globular berry, with
five or fewer compartments filled with juice. It is much esteemed
in China.
138. COPAIFERA OFFICINALIS.--This tree yields balsam of copaiba, used
in medicine. The balsam is collected by making incisions in the
stem, when the liquor is said to pour out copiously; as it exudes
it is thin and colorless, but immediately thickens and changes to
a clear yellow. Like many other balsams, it is nearly allied to
the turpentines; it has a moderately agreeable smell, and a
bitter, biting taste of considerable duration. Distilled with
water it yields a limpid essential oil.
139. COPERNICA CERIFERA.--The Carnuba, or wax palm of Brazil. It grows
about 40 feet high, and has a trunk 6 or 8 inches thick, composed
of very hard wood, which is commonly employed in Brazil for
building and other purposes. The upper part of the young stem is
soft, and yields a kind of sago, and the bitter fruits are eaten
by the Indians. The young leaves are coated with wax, called
Carnaub wax, which is detached by shaking them, and then melted
and run into cakes; it is harder than beeswax, and has been used
for making candles. The leaves are used for thatch, and, when
young, are eaten by cattle.
140. COPROSMA ROBUSTA.--A cinchonaceous shrub. The leaves of this plant
were formerly used in some of the religious ceremonies of the New
Zealanders.
141. CORDIA MYXA.--This produces succulent, mucilaginous, and emollient
fruits, which are eaten. These qualities, combined with a slight
astringency, have led to their use as pectorals, known as
Sebestens. The wood of this tree is said to have furnished the
material used by the Egyptians in the construction of their mummy
cases; it is also considered to be one of the best woods for
kindling fire by friction.
142. CORDYLINE AUSTRALIS.--The Australian Ti, or cabbage tree, a
palm-like plant of 15 to 20 feet in height. The whole plant is
fibrous, and it has been suggested as good for a paper-making
material. The juice of the roots and stem contains a small amount
of sugar, and has been employed for procuring alcohol.
143. CORYPHA UMBRACULIFERA.--The Talipot palm, a native of Ceylon,
producing gigantic fan-like leaves. These leaves have prickly
stalks 6 or 7 feet long, and when fully expanded form a nearly
complete circle of 13 feet in diameter. Large fans made of these
leaves are carried before people of rank among the Cinghalese;
they are also commonly used as umbrellas, and tents are made by
neatly joining them together; they are also used as a substitute
for paper, being written upon with a stylus. Some of the sacred
books of the Cinghalese are composed of strips of them. The hard
seeds are used by turners.
144. COUROUPITA GUIANENSIS.--The fruit of this tree is called, from its
appearance, the cannon-ball fruit; its shell is used as a drinking
vessel, and when fresh the pulp is of an agreeable flavor.
145. CRATÆVA GYNANDRA.--This West Indian tree yields a small fruit
which has a strong smell of garlic, hence it is called the garlic
pear. The bark is bitter and used as a tonic.
146. CRESCENTIA CUJETE.--The calabash tree of the West Indies, where it
is valued for the sake of its fruits, which resemble pumpkins in
appearance and occasionally reach a diameter of 18 inches.
Divested of their pulp, which is not edible, they serve various
useful domestic purposes, for carrying water, and even as kettles
for cooking. They are strong and light.
147. CROTON BALSAMIFERUM.--This West Indian shrub is sometimes called
seaside balsam or sage. A thick, yellowish, aromatic juice exudes
from the extremities of the broken branches, or wherever the stem
has been wounded. In Martinique a liquor called _Eau de Mantes_ is
distilled from this balsamic juice with spirits of wine. The young
leaves and branches are used in warm baths, on account of their
agreeable fragrance and reputed medicinal virtues.
148. CROTON ELEUTHERIA.--This plant furnishes cascarilla bark, used as
an aromatic bitter tonic, having no astringency. It has a fragrant
smell when burnt, on which account it has been mixed with smoking
tobacco.
149. CROTON TIGLIUM.--A plant of the family _Euphorbiaceæ_, from the
Indian Archipelago, which produces the seeds from whence croton
oil is extracted. It is a very powerful medicine, and even in
pressing the seeds for the purpose of extracting the oil, the
workmen are subject to irritation of the eyes and other
casualties.
150. CUBEBA OFFICINALIS.--A native of Java, which furnishes the cubeb
fruits of commerce. These fruits are like black pepper, but
stalked, and have an acrid, hot, aromatic taste; frequently used
medicinally.
151. CURCAS PURGANS.--A tropical plant cultivated in many warm
countries for the sake of its seeds, known as physic nuts. The
juice of the plant, which is milky, acrid, and glutinous, produces
an indelible brown stain on linen. The oil from the seeds is used
for burning in lamps; and in paints. In China it is boiled with
oxide of iron and used as a varnish. It is also used medicinally.
152. CURCUMA LONGA.--A plant belonging to the _Zingiberaceæ_, the roots
of which furnish turmeric. This powder is used in India as a mild
aromatic, and for other medicinal purposes. It also enters into
the composition of curry-powder, and a sort of arrowroot is made
from the young tubers.
153. CURCUMA ZEDOARIA.--This plant furnishes zedoary tubers, much used
in India as aromatic tonics.
154. CYATHEA MEDULLARIS.--This beautiful tree fern is a native of
Australia, where it attains a height of 25 to 30 feet, having
fronds from 10 to 15 feet in length. It contains a pulpy substance
in the center of the stem, of a starchy, mucilaginous nature,
which is a common article of food with the natives. The trees have
to be destroyed in order to obtain it.
155. CYBISTAX ANTISYPHILITICA.--A plant of the order of _Bignoniaceæ_,
called Atunyangua in the Andes of Peru, where the inhabitants dye
their cotton clothes by boiling them along with the leaves of this
plant; the dye is a permanent blue. The bark of the young shoots
is much employed in medicine.
156. CYCAS REVOLUTA.--The sago palm of gardens. The stem of the plants
abounds in starch, which is highly esteemed in Japan. A gum exudes
from the trunk of the old plant, which is employed medicinally by
the natives of India.
157. CYCAS CIRCINALIS.--A native of Malabar, where a kind of sago is
prepared from the seeds, which are dried and powdered; medicinal
properties are also attributed to the seeds.
158. DACRYDIUM FRANKLINII.--Called Huon pine, because of its being
found near the Huon River, in Tasmania. It belongs to the yew
family. It furnishes valuable timber, very durable, and is used
for ship and house building; some of the wood is very beautifully
marked, and is used in furniture making and cabinetwork.
159. DALBERGIA SISSOO.--A tree of northern India, the timber of which
is known as Sissum wood. This wood is strong, tenacious, and
compact, much used for railway ties and for gun-carriages.
160. DAMARA AUSTRALIS.--A singular plant of the _Coniferæ_ family,
called the Kauri pine. It forms a tree 150 to 200 feet in height,
and produces a hard, brittle resin-like copal, which is used in
varnish.
161. DASYLIRION ACROTRICHUM.--A plant of the pineapple family, from
Mexico. The leaves contain a fine fiber, which may be ultimately
more extensively utilized than it is at present.
162. DESMODIUM GYRANS.--An interesting plant of the pea family, called
the moving plant, on account of the rotatory motion of the
leaflets. These move in all conceivable ways, either steadily or
by jerks. Sometimes only one leaf or two on the plant will be
affected; at other times a nearly simultaneous movement may be
seen in all the leaves. These movements are most energetic when
the thermometer marks about 80°. This motion is not due to any
external or mechanical irritation.
163. DIALIUM ACUTIFOLIUM.--The velvet tamarind, so called, from the
circumstance that its seed-pods are covered with a beautiful black
velvet down. The seeds are surrounded by a farinaceous pulp of an
agreeable acid taste.
164. DIALIUM INDUM.--The tamarind plum, which has a delicious pulp of
slightly acid flavor.
165. DICKSONIA ANTARCTICA.--The large fern tree of Australia. This
plant attains the height of 30 or more feet, and its fronds or
leaves spread horizontally some 20 to 25 feet. It is found in
snowy regions, and would be perfectly hardy south. It is one of
the finest objects of the vegetable kingdom when of sufficient
size to show its true beauties.
166. DIEFFENBACHIA SEGUINA.--This has acquired the name of dumb cane,
in consequence of its fleshy, cane-like stems, rendering
speechless any person who may happen to bite them, their acrid
poison causing the tongue to swell to an immense size. An ointment
for applying to dropsical swellings is prepared by boiling the
juice in lard. Notwithstanding its acridity, a wholesome starch is
prepared from the stem.