LEGUMINOSiE. I. Myrospermum. II. Sophora. 



109 



I 



I 



i 



^ 



seed, which is crescent-shaped, projecting from the cell, and be- 

 tween this and the lining of the pericarp is filled with a yellow 

 liquid balsam, which in time dries and becomes a hard resin. The 

 tree grows in the mountains of Panatahuas, in the forests of 

 Puzuzo, Muna, Cuchero, and in many other countries near 



the river Maranon, in low, warm, and sunny situations. The rheumatic pains. 



copaiva. Its effects are stimulating and tonic. Hence its 

 in some kinds of asthmas, gonorrhoeas, dysenteries, suppres- 

 sions of the uterine discharges, and other disorders proceeding 

 from debility. It is also employed externally for cleansing and 

 healing wounds and ulcers, and sometimes against palsies, and 



Balsam o£ Peru-tree. Tree 40 feet. 

 M. tolui'ferum TAch. Rich, ai 



natives of these countries call the tree by the name o£ QmnqainOy 



and its bark and fruit by that of Quinquina, a plant very different , , 



to the Quina. The Indians of Puzuzo and the above-mentioned 172.) branches and leaves glabrous ; leaflets oblong, acuminated, 



countries do not collect the balsam of this tree, they only equal-sided, rounded at the base. Tj . S. Native of South 



collect the barks most filled with resin, condensed into drops America, on the mountains of Tolu, Turbaco, and on the banks 



and lumps, and the fruits, in order to sell them in the neigh- of the river Magdalena, between Carapata and Mompox.^ Bal- 



bouring provinces, both of which are used for the purpose of 

 perfuming cloth and apartments. It is called perfume of 



it from the true perfume, which 



siimum Tolutanum, C. Bauh. pin. 401. Toluifera Balsamum, 

 Mill. diet. Lin. mat. med. 201. Woodv. med. bot. 3. p. 526. 



quinquina, 

 is a 



to 



distinguish 



t. 193. M\ 



H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. 



of° Benzoin, storax, and ambergris, these amer. 6. p. 375. A large spreading tree, with very thick, rough, 



composition 



substances being formed into a paste, from which they make 

 pastiles. The fruit as well as the bark being reduced to a coarse 



Leaves oblong-ovate. 



brown bark. 



pos^d in small axillary racemes. 



Flowers yellowish, dis- 

 The balsam of Tolu is the 



made in the 



httle 



powder, thevmix it with oil of maria, carana, jacamaca, lera, produce of this tree; it flows from incisions 



or sebo, and make with it little plasters, which they apply upon bark,^ during the hot season, and is brought to us in 



the temples and behind the ears, to mitigate the pains of the 



head-ache and the tooth-ache. It closes recent wounds, 



strengthens the brain, mitigates pains proceeding from agues, 



and dissipates the shivering produced by fevers. The balsam 



gourd shells. It is of a yellowish-brown colour, inclining 

 to red ; in consistence thick and tenacious ; by age it grows 

 hard and brittle. The smell of this balsam is extremely 

 frao-rant, somewhat resembling that of lemon, its taste warm 



of quinquino is procured by incision at the beginning of spring, and sweetish. Lewis says that he has sometimes procured 

 when the showers are gentle, frequent, and short ; it is collected benzoic acid from it. It yields very little volatile oil, although 

 into bottles, where it keeps liquid for some years, in which state it impregnates the distilled water strongly with its flavour. By 

 it is called white liquid balsam. But when the Indians deposit dissolving a proper quantity of sugar in this water a more 

 this liquid in mats or calabashes, which is commonly done in elegant syrup is obtained than that prepared in the common way 

 Carthagena, it hardens into a resin and is then denominated dry 

 white balsam. The wood of the quinquino is compact, heavy, wuth other balsams. 



Balsam of Tolu-tree. Clt.1733 Tree 40 feet.^ • 

 Cult. Fresh imported seeds of any of the species will grow, 

 if sown in a pot immediately on their arrival in this country, 



with a decoction of the balsam ; in its medical virtues it agrees 



and durable, but is difficult to work on account of its uneven 

 grain. It is never exposed to attacks of worms, wherefore the 

 Indians make use of the trunks for beams and stanchions. 



Tree 40 feet. 



Pubescent Myrrh-seed, White Balsam, or Quinquino. FL and placed in a hot-bed. The plants are to be potted off separ- 

 ately when they are 3 inches high, in a mixture of peat and 

 loam ; young cuttings will also root, if planted in sand, with a 

 hand-glass placed over them, in heat. 



II. SOPHO'RA (altered from sojihero, the Arabic name of 



Aug. Sept. 



3 M. perui'ferum (D.C. prod. 2. p. 95.) leaflets coriaceous, 



are as well as the branches glabrous ; legume 



. S. Native of 



and 



permanent, 



with a very thick wing; style deciduous. ^ 



~~ - - - ■ Myroxylon perui- 



H. B. et 



Peru, New Granada, Colombia, Mexico. 



ferum, Lin. fil. suppl. 233. Bert, amoen. p. 26. t. 1. 



Kunth, nov. gen. amer. G. p. 374. M. pedicellatum, Lam. diet. yoh 3. p. 2. 

 4. p. 191. ill. t. 341. f 1. Flowers white, disposed in axillary 



Legume coriaceous, with the stipe inclosed in the 



There are varieties of this tree, 



tree). R. Br. hort. kew. ed. 



racemes. 



calyx, about 3 inches long. 

 or perhaps distinct species, differing in having quite entire or 

 crenated, oval, or ovate, obtuse or emarginate leaflets, marked 

 with oblong or roundish pellucid dots. The lower leaflets alter- 

 nate, and the upper ones more or less opposite, to the number 

 of 2-5 pairs. It is a very beautiful tree, with a smooth bark 

 full of resin, as are all parts of the plant. The leaves are 

 abruptly pinnate, usually with about 2 pairs of ovate-lanceolate, 

 entire, emarginate leaflets, which are full of transparent, linear, 

 resinous dots. The balsam of Peru is the produce of this tree, 

 according to Joseph Caelastine Mutis. 



a papilionaceous flowering 



D. C. leg. mem. 5. prod. 2. p. 95.— Sophorse, 

 spec. Lin. gen. no. 508, exclusive of some anomalous species. 



Lix. SYST. Decdndria, Monogynia. Calyx 5-toothed (f 23. 

 a.), campanulate at the base, or somewhat attenuated. Petals 

 of the keel usually concrete at the 

 what moniliform ^f 22. dX wimrkss. manv-seeded. — Trees, 



Legume some- 



shrubs, or herbs, with impari-pinnate leaves, which are usually 

 exstipulate and terminal, simple racemes or panicles of yellow, 

 white, or blue flowers. 



Sect. I. Eusofhora (from ev, eu, well or good, and sophora; 

 genuine species). D. C. prod. 2. p. 95. Stamens 10, free, 

 ui^w^^^w. vw.o v.^., 1 S. Japonica (Lin. mant. 68.) arboreous; leaflets 11-13, 



accuruuig xu .usepii v.^iu.uuc x....... This balsam, when oblong-ovate, acute, glabrous ; panicle terminal, loose ;legum 



brought to us, is of the consistence of thin honey, of a reddish- glabrous. Jj . H. Native of Japan. Red. m Dub. ed. nov. 3. 

 brovv?i colour, inclining to black, an agreeable aromatic smell, t. 21. S. Sinica, Rosier, journ. phys. 11. p. 248.^ D.Ju. leg. 

 and a very hot biting taste. It is said to be obtained by boiling 

 the cuttings of the twigs in water, and skimming off with a 

 spoon the balsam, which swims on the top. Peruvian balsam 

 consists of a volatile oil, resin, and benzoic acid ; it is accord- 



■ ' • ' ' *' Water 



Leffume 



t. 4. f 1. germ. Flowers beautitul cream-coloured. 



with from 1-7 rather distant contractions, when young replete 



with an austere pulp inside. 



ingly entirely soluble in alcohol and in essential oils, 

 dissolves part of the benzoic acid, and fixed oil combi 



with 

 the resin/ It may be suspended in water by trituration with 

 mucilage and yoke of eggs. Balsam of Peru is a very warm 

 aromatic medicine, considerably hotter and more acrid than 



and well fitted for ornamental plantations. 



Var. (3, variegata ; leaves variegated. 



Far. y, pendula ; branches pendulous. 



- ■ ^ Clt. 1763. 



An elegant tree when in flower, 



Tr. 30 to 40 ft. 



, Japan Sophora. Fl. Aug. Sept. 



2 S. Chine'nsis (Lodd. cat. Loud. hort. brit. p. 162.). We 

 have not been able to obtain a description of this species. It is 



