33 no R T us J A iM A I C E N S I S; <K3N.rRAYPRA 



1. ODORATISSIMA. - SWEET-SCENTEB. 



Aristolochia fcandens odoraiissima, flovis labello jnirpureo, senune 

 cordato. Slcane, v. 1, p. 1C2, t. (04, f. 1. Scandcns, foliis cor- 

 dato-acuminatis florumJlabcUis iimplis purpurcis. Browne, p. 329., 

 Leaves cordate ; stem twining, slirubly ; pedancLes solitary; lip of the corolla 

 very large. 

 Tills is so called in Jamaica from its great efficacy against poisons, Init is in no re- 

 q)ect like the Sj)anish contrayerva ; I'or this plant hath a loni,^ round geniculatcd root, 

 in shape and bigness of long birthvvort; so are its leaf and flower. It hath a round 

 f^reen climbing stem, taking hold of any tree or slvnsh, nsing six or twelve feet higli, 

 (covering them with its n-iinierous branches. The leaves stand on the main stalks, cor- 

 dated, of a dark-green colour ; the flowers stand on a three-inch.foot-stalk, like other 

 Inrthvvorts, of a yellov.ish colour, the lip covered whh a pvu-ple farina; the fruit is 

 liexangnlar, two or three inches long, containing six cells, full of small flat odorifer- 

 ous yellowish-brown seeds, of the shape of an heart The roots and seeds are very 

 bitter, hot, and odoriferous, and are most excellent alexiphaiimcs or counter-poisous, 

 strengthening the heart, stomacli, and brain ; they cure the bites of serpents, and the 

 poison of Indian arrows. I am of opinion, it exceeds the Spanish tontrayerva, e^pe- 

 -cially in dropsies. 1 ha^'e seen wonders done with it : It drives out the small pox, 

 measles, spotted fevers, plague, or any malignant distemper ; it gently purges some 

 In- stool, feut never fails working powerfully by urine, and someiimes by sweat. I have 

 known it recover several in lingering distempers, when tiieir appetites have been wholly 

 lost and the use of their limbs, and that only by drinking a simple decoction of the root 

 in water ; but in wine it makes the best stomachic, it being excessive bitter and aro- 

 matic ; also this makes the best bitter wine in the world, exceeding all in the dispen- 

 satories, or Stoughton's drops ; and, if you add steel to it, it cures the green sickness, 

 dropsies, opens ah obstructions., sweetens tlie blood, and restores it to its due crasis. 

 Barham, p. A^. 



This plant -(which is the iiavnc or seiyenf n-t/f/ie of the 'Frenclii^ from its being an an- 

 tidote to the poison of serpents) abounds ever)' where among the woodlands and thick- 

 ets on the south and north sides of the island, and rises frequently to a considerable 

 height among the trees and bushes. It destroys worms, for which purpose the root 

 (which has a strong smell) is chopped in small pieces, and given by the planters to their 

 horses, mixed with corn, which destroys bots, and wonderfully recruits the animals 

 flesh and strength. 



It is so abundant in this island, -that it maybe collected, annually, in large quantities, 

 for exportation, if there \yas a demand for it at the home market ; and it seems to merit 

 4his encouragement, as it has been thought, by very able physicians, to be superior. ia 

 efficacy to the i^pariish contrayerva. Long:, p. 717. 



2. TRILOBATA. THREE-LOBED. 



Scandens, Joliis suhlobatis obtusis, floribus mnplissimis. Browne, 

 p. 329. 

 Leaves three-lobed ; stem twining ; flowers very large, bagged at the base ; 

 tongue linear, very long. 



TMs 



