DORSTENrA. 



Hooker in JBot. mag. t. 2804. Caa-apia Marcgr. bras. 52. ic. — 

 Jamaica, Brazil, Trinidad. 



Root oblong, woody, praemorse, powerfully aromatic. Stemless. 

 Leaves cordate, oblong, obtuse, crenulated, serrated, or toothletted, 

 cucullate at the base. Scape as long as the petioles. Receptacle 

 orbicular, somewhat cupshaped, crenated at the margin. — The tuberous 

 root is used like the Serpentaria against nervous fevers and general 

 debility, as well as against the bite of serpents, and when quite fresh, 

 is said to operate more powerfully than that, but more speedily to lose 

 its virtue. Sometimes also it serves as a gentle emetic. This plant is 

 frequently confounded with other species of Dorstenia, all which, 

 however, are inferior to it in salutary virtue. It is not to be doubted 

 that the Contrayerva of the druggists' shops would always have re- 

 tained the reputation it once enjoyed, if, instead of the weaker Mexican 

 and West Indian species, this Brazilian kind had become an article of 

 commerce. It grows in strong clayey soils, in the mountainous parts 

 of S. Paulo and Minas, whereas the other species prefer the shade of 

 moist woods, and rich mould. In this plant, as is the case with several 

 in Europe, which grow both on low grounds and on eminences, it is 

 observed that those from the mountains are more powerful. Martius. 



623. D. Houstoni Mill. diet. No. 2. Willd. i. 682. — Houston 

 inphil. trans. No. 421 . p. 195. fig. 5. — High rocky ground near 

 Campeachy. 



Stemless. Leaves cordate, entire, or palmately angular, acute. Re- 

 ceptacle quadrangular, wavy. 



624% D. Drakena Mill. diet. No. 3. Willd. i. 683. — Houston 

 1. c. fig. 4. — High ground near Vera Cruz. 



Stemless. Leaves cordate, interruptedly pinnatifid with the segments 

 ovate, acute, entire. Receptacles oval, entire. 



ANTIARIS. 



Monoecious. $ on a convex fleshy receptacle, scaly on the 

 under side and there attached by a stalk in the middle. Sepals 

 3-4, imbricated. Anthers 3 or 4, nearly sessile. ? solitary on 

 a scaly peduncle. Calyx 0. Ovary 1-celled; ovule inverted. 

 Style 2-parted. Fruit a fleshy 1 -seeded drupe. Embryo in- 

 verted, without albumen. 



625. A. toxicaria Lesch. in ann. mus. xvi. 476. t. 22. Blume 



Rumphia i. tt. 22, 23. p. 56 (Humph, ii. t. 87.) — Islands of 



the Indian Archipelago, particularly Java, Baly, and Celebes. 

 (Antsjar or Upas.) 



A very large tree. Leaves oval-oblong, obtuse, or rather acute, 

 unequally cordate, when young toothletted and hairy on both sides. 

 Peduncles simple. $ . Flowers turbinate, downy, pedicellate. <J . 

 Receptacle fungus-like, green, and downy. — One of the most virulent 

 of known poisons. Some persons are exposed to danger when they 

 only approach the trees ; Leschenault de la Tour sent a man up into a 

 tree, he became very ill, his body swelled, and for several days he 

 suffered severely (dirissime excruciabatur) by vertigo, nausea and 

 vomiting; others nevertheless experience no inconvenience from the 

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