39 



" Dotted here and there over the island up to 3,000 feet. A very 

 large spreading tree, growing in the open, with peculiar twisted far- 

 extending buttresses. The girth of the cotton tree is up to 30 feet, 

 the timber soft and useless, except for cheap canoes, which last one 

 season." (Hooper.) 



" The large stems of this tree are hollowed out to form canoes. The 

 wood is soft and subject to the attack of insects ; but if steeped in 

 3trong lime water, it will last for several years, even when made into 

 boards or shingles, and in situations exposed to the influence of the 

 weather. 



The wool has been employed in stuffing mattresses ; and is said to 

 tnswer the purpose equally well as feathers." Macfadyen.) 



ERYNGIUM F.ETIDUM, Linn. 

 Fit- weed. 



Native of W. Indies and tropical America. A fetid herb, about a 

 foot high ; flowers small, white, collected in spiny heads ; leaves 

 spiny. 



This plant has the character of being aphrodisiac, alexipharmic, and 

 emmenagogue, and of being serviceable in colic, hysteria, and spasmodic 

 diseases in general. It may be used in the form of infusion or decoc- 

 tion, or the root may be given in powder. It has received its common 

 name from its efficacy in nervous diseases. Macfadyen). 



ERYTHROXYLUM AREOLATDM, Linn. 



Redwood. 



Native of Jamaica, Venezuela and New Granada. A shrubby tree, 

 10-16 feet high; leaves marked as in E. Coca with lines parallel with 

 the midrab, 1^-2 inches long ; flowers appearing before the leaves, 

 white and fragrant ; berries numerous, bright scarlet. (Linacece.) 



Leaves contain only a small amount of Cocaine. 



Wood. " This timber grows to medium size, saws readily, not too 

 hard for general purposes, is used for furniture and flooring." (Harrison.) 



ERYTHROXYLON COCA, Lam. 



Coca Shrub. 



Native of the Andes. Cultivated in Jamaica. A shrub with pale 

 yellow flowers, and red berries. The leaves are unmistakable from 

 the two curved lines on the under surface, one on either side of the 

 midrib. {Linacece.) 



Leaves dried, form the coca of commerce. The chief constituents 

 of coca are a crystalline alkaloid, called cocaine, and a volatile odorifer- 

 ous alkaloid, hygrim. See Bulletins, 15, 16. 



ESPARTO, See Stipa tenacissima. 



