54 



Fruit. Pulp edible, of a sweet sub-acid slightly astringent taste,, 

 Huts in the Caraccas, are roasted and eaten, like chestnuts, 



MILK WITHE. See Forsteronia floribunda 

 MILKWORT. See Polygala paniculata. 



MOMORDICA BALSAMINA, Linn. 



Cerasee. 



Tropics. A climbing plant with tendrils ; leaves deeply lobed ; 

 flowers yellow ; fruit bright orange, bursting, showing the seeds with 

 scarlet covering. (Cucurbit acece.) 



"A decoction of the root is said to act as a de-obstruent, and to 

 promote the secretions of the liver and kidneys. 



The leaves are a favourite potherb in India, and have the reputa- 

 tion of promoting the lochial discharge when scanty." 



Fruit used in East to cure wounds. It is cut open, infused in sweet 

 oil, which is then exposed to sun for a few days, and put up for future 

 use. Dropped on cotton, it is a good vulnerary. The pulp is purga- 

 tive, and an infusion with addition of carbonate of soda removes dis- 

 colourations of the skin. (Macfadyen.) 



Momordica Charantia, Linn., is very much like the above, and is 

 also known as Cerasee. The fruit is saffron-coloured or red, and the 

 bract is below the middle of the flower-stalk, and quite entire. It is 

 supposed to possess the same medicinal virtues ; it is one of the ingre- 

 dients of " pepper-pot". 



MORINGA PTERYGOSPERMA, Gaertn. 



Horse Radish Tree. 



Tropical Asia and Africa. 



A tree, 12 to 20 feet high ; leaves thrice-pinnate ; flowers whitish ; 

 pod nearly a foot long, three-cornered ; seeds three-winged. (Morin- 

 gecB.) 



Root is a substitute for horse-radish. It vesicates, and may be ap- 

 plied pounded as a rubefacient. 



Wood affords a blue dye. 



Seeds yield an oil. 



MORONOBEA COCCINEA. See Symphonia globulifera. 



MARANTA ARUNDINACEA, Linn. 



Arrowroot. 



Native of West Indies and Central America. An herbaceous peren- 

 nial, with a creeping rootstock ; flowering-stem 5 or 6 feet high ; 

 leaves with long sheathing stalks, generally enveloping the stem : 

 flowers yellowish- white. (Zingiber acece.) 



Root-stocks, when about a year old, are beaten up in a mortar to a 

 dulp. The pulp is well washed in water, and the fibrous portion* 



