SIMARUBE.'E. 199 



tite, leaves abruptly pinnated, leaflets alternate shortly 

 petiolulated pubescent beneath. 



Quassia Simaruba, Linn. Suppl, 234 ? — Lam. III. t. 343. f. 

 2? — Wright, Trans. Soc.JSdin. II. 73. — Simaruba amara, Aubl. 

 Giciati. t. 331, 332?— S. officinalis, Be Cand. Prod. I. 733. 



HAB. Common, Port-Royal mountains. 



FL. June. 



A tree, about 20 feet in lieigbt : branches (qw, erect, terete, 

 glabrous. Leaves towards the ends of the branches, abruptly 

 pinnated : leaflets alternate, shortly petiolulated, oblong, gla- 

 brous and shining above, pubescent and paler beneath. Panicles 

 axillary, subterminal: divisions short, few-flowered, each furnished 

 with a leafy reversely-wedge-shaped bractea at the base : flow- 

 ers shortly pedicelled, yellow, dioecious. $ Flowers, with the 

 calyx small ; divisions obtuse, minutely ciliated. Petals three 

 times the length of the calyx, oblong, obtuse. Stamens length 

 of the petals, augmented at the base with 10 ovate villous scales. 

 Ovary imperfect, 5-lobuIed, destitute of style or stigma. 

 $ Flowers, on a distinct tree and smaller than the male. 

 Calyx and corolla as in the male. Stamens 0. Ovaries 5, 

 connected at the inner angle : style erect, single : stigmata 5, 

 recurved. Fruit of 5, or by abortion, 4-3-2 drupaceous car- 

 pels, seated on the enlarged receptacle ; carpels oblong, size of 

 a damson, dark purple, smooth, shining, 1-seeded: seed ovato- 

 oblong, compi-essed. 



This is a very common tree in Port-Royal mountains. Ac- 

 cording to Linnseus and others, the male and female flowers are 

 mixed together, on the same panicle. This is not the case with 

 our Jamaica plant, which, as Dr Wright long ago remarked, is 

 always dioecious. It is possible therefore that our Jamaica spe- 

 cies may be distinct from the Quassia Simaruba of Linnseus, 

 although it agrees with the figure of Aublet. I regret, that 

 from my notes on this plant being mislaid, I cannot at present 

 speak with confidence on the subject. The bark of the Quas- 

 sia Simaruba of Linnaeus, is in the lists of the diff"erent Na- 

 tional Pharmacopceicis, and is the only part of the plant used in 

 medicine. It is inodorous, bitter, but not unpleasantly so, to the 

 taste, and its virtues are extracted by both alcohol and water. 

 It has been remarked, that the infusion is more bitter than the 

 decoction. It acts as a tonic, and is used in dyspepsia, diar- 

 rhoea, chronic dysentery, and in all cases of impaired tone of the 

 alimentary canal. Bichat made the remark, that in a full dose 

 it acted as an emetic. 



