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. MUSSÆNDA 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. NOTELÆA 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 EUROPÆA.--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 _Sapindaceæ_.
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 _Cactaceæ_. 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 _Piperaceæ_. 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.