214 CULPEPER’s ENGLISH PHYSICIAN, 
the bark rugged, and the branches great and fpreading; the fmallertwigs about a 
foot jong are full of leaves on both fides, one a little above another, and an odd one 
at the end ; thefe leaves are fmall, broad, and pointed at the end finely dented 
about the edges, with long veins in them, each ftanding on a long footftalk, 
{mooth, and feel hard. Atthe foot of every leaf towards the tops of the twigs. 
come forth {mall yellowifh flowers, each confifting of five leaves; thefe are: fuc- 
ceeded by the fruit, which is fomewhat like a {mall plumb, or olive, but rather 
long, green and harfh at the firft, afterwards they become yellowifh, and when ripe. 
they are of a fine red colour, of a fharp iweetnefs, and fomewhat clammy ;. flattifh 
. next the ftalk, containing a ftone not unlike that of the olive or Cornelian cherry ;. 
and its fkin is thicker and harder than thatofthe plumb. The branches are thorny, 
ftanding two always at.a joint, one whereof is crooked, the other ftraight ; the roots 
are long and faft in the earth. : a . 
The leffer jujube-tree is in branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit, very much like 
the former, except that it is every way fomewhat fmaller ; it is alfo thick fet with” 
thorns like the other, but thefe are rather fhorter. . 
The wild jujube-tree is: lower, and more like a fhrub, than either of the former, 
but thicker fet with fmall fharp thorns s the leaves are not unlike, but grow not fo 
thick on atwig, and are {maller ; the fruit of this is alfo red, fomewhat lefs, dryer 
of fubftance, and of a fharper tafte than the others. 
_ Prace. The firt groweth naturally in Africa, Egypt, and moft eaftern countries, | 
and was, as Pliny obferves, conveyed from thence into Italy, where it now grows in 
great plenty. The other kinds are likewife found in Italy, and i in fome parts of 
‘France, the wild kind growing in the fields and hedges, 
Time. They flower in May, and their fruit is generally ripe in September. 
_ GoveRNMENT AND Virtugs. Venus claims dominion over thefe. Jujube berries, 
when freth, open the body, purge choler, and cleanfe the blood, as Simon Sethi 
cand J Actuarius affirm, though Mathiolus pofitively denies their purging faculty. , 
They are of a temperate quality i in heat and moifture ; they cool the heat and fharp- 
nefs of the blood, and therefore are good in hot agues, alfo to expectorate tough 
phlegm and other difeafes of the cheft and lungs, as coughs, fhortnefs of breath, hot 
Giftillations, &c. and, being taken in fyrups or electuaries, expel the roughnefs of 
the throat and breaft. They are good to cleanfe the reins and bladder, their vifcous 
qualities. making the ‘Paffages flippery, and expelling the gravel and {tone with infi- 
nitely lefs pain; and. they ftay vomiting when caufed by. fharphomours. They are 
hard of digeftion, being either frefh or dry, and therefore are ufed in decoétions, fy- 
— or clectuaries. I eee ay readers with a moft valuable sore 
