VIOLACEiE. 



IONIDIUM. 



Sepals 5, not prolonged at the base. Corolla unequal, 2-lipped, 

 consisting of 5 petals, the lowest of which is very large and un- 

 guiculate. Stamens 5, hypogynous, unequal, the 2 anterior 

 having anthers that are often appendiculate. Capsule pro- 

 tected by the permanent sepals, petals and stamens, few or many- 

 seeded. — Herbaceous plants or shrubs. 



206. I. Ipecacuanha^^, de St. H. plant, us. No. ll.pl. remarg. 

 Bres. p. 307. Bot. Mag. t. 2453. Mart. sp. mat. med. bras. 

 p. 14. — Viola Itoubu Aubl. guian. ii. 808. t. 318. Ionidium 

 Itubu HBK. n. g. and sp. v. t. 496. Pombalia Itubu DC. 

 prodr. i. 307. — Woods of Brazil. (Poaya branca ; Poaya da 

 Praja.) 



Leaves alternate, lanceolate-ovate, serrated, acute at each end. Sti- 

 pules ovate-lanceolate, acute, membranous, ribbed in the middle. Se- 

 pals semipinnatifid. Lower petal very large, transversely elliptical. — 

 The roots emetic ; collected as a substitute for true Ipecacuanha. They 

 are figured in Mart. spec. mat. med. bras. t. 8. f. 15. and 16. 



207. I. Poaya Aug. de St. H.pl. us. No. 9. plant, rem. Bres. 

 p. 308. — Fields in the western parts of Minas Geraes and 

 elsewhere in Brazil. (Poaya do campo.) 



Very shaggy. Stem suffruticose, usually simple. Leaves alternate, 

 subsessile, ovate, somewhat cordate at base, rather acute, obsoletely 

 toothed ; stipules linear, scarious, quite entire, hardly perceptible. 

 Lower petal very large, broadly obcordate. Filaments bearded on the 

 outside at the apex. Membranous process of the anthers very small. — 

 Roots emetic, substituted for true* Ipecacuanha in Brazil, in the province 

 of the Mines. A. de St. H. 



208. I. microphyllum HBK. nov. gen. v. 374. t. 495. DC. 

 prodr. i. 310. — Cuichunchulli Bancroft in comp. to Bot. mag. 

 i. 278. — Quito near the foot of Chimborazo. 



Stems somewhat quadrangular, smooth on the angles, downy on the 

 sides, filiform, erect, apparently not above 1 foot high, if so much. Leaves 

 all opposite, ovate, wedge-shaped and entire at the base, with 2 or 3 coarse 

 serratures on each side towards the point, covered sparingly on each 

 side with short fine down. Stipules membranous, linear-ovate, acuminate, 

 longer than the very short petioles. Flowers small, axillary, solitary, 

 erect. Peduncles filiform, slightly downy, twice as long as the leaves. 

 Sepals ovate, acute, with a little fine down along the middle of the back. 

 Lip panduriform, that is, unguiculate, roundish, emarginate, with the 

 claw almost rhomboidal, from the projection of its sides at opposite 

 points. — Stated to be a specific in Elephantiasis tuberculata, the ' Mai 

 de San Lazaro" of the Spanish Americans, and " Cocobay" of Jamaica. 

 Dr. Bancroft, as quoted above, speaks most favourably of its effects in 

 this miserable disease. Sir W. Hooker considered the specimens of 

 the plant sent home by Dr. Bancroft to be identical with I. parviflorum 

 Vent. ; what I describe from samples given me by the Hon. W. F. 

 Stran^ways under the name of" Cuchunchullyde Cuenca" is obviously 

 not that species, but I think the same as Humboldt's I. microphyllum, 



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