CHIOCOCCA. 



is supposed to be anthelmintic. The bark and young shoots are used 

 in dysentery. Ainslie. 



CHIOCOCCA. 



Limb of calyx 5-toothed. Corolla funnel-shaped, with an ob- 

 conical tube or throat, and a 5-lobed acute limb. Stamens 5, 

 downy, hardly adnate to the bottom of the corolla; anthers 

 linear, enclosed. Style clavate or 2-lobed at the apex. Berry 

 somewhat didymous, compressed, crowned by the teeth of the 

 calyx, with 2 papery 1 -seeded stones. — Shrubs often with a 

 somewhat scandent habit. Leaves ovate or oblong, smooth. 

 Racemes axillary, simple or panicled. Flowers yellowish white. 



874. C. anguifuga Mart. spec. mat. med. bras. xvii. t. 5. DC. 

 prodr. iv. 482. — C brachiata Fl. peruv. ii. 67. t. 219. b. C. ra- 

 cemosa HBK. iii. 352. C. parviflora and paniculata Willd. in 

 R. and S. v. 203. — Woods of Brazil, Cayenne, Peru, and some 

 of the West India Islands. 



Root perpendicular, round, branched, as thick as the thumb, with a 

 strong acrid foetid smell when fresh, when dry having at first some- 

 thing the taste of coffee, but afterwards acrid and nauseous, stimulating 

 the flow of saliva. Stems weak, erect, 6-10 feet high. Leaves oppo- 

 site, stalked, ovate, broadly wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, 

 tapering into a long narrow point, smooth and green on each side. 

 Stipules short, truncate. Peduncles axillary, nearly horizontal, smooth 

 or downy at the angles, branched. Pedicels somewhat secund. Ber- 

 ries roundish, compressed, smooth, 2-3 lines in diameter. — See next 

 species. 



875. C. densifolia Mart. spec. mat. med. bras. xvii. t. 6. DC. 

 prodr. iv. 482. — Woods of Brazil, especially in the province of 

 Bahia. (Cahinca.) 



Root like that of the last. Trunk arborescent, 8-10 feet high. 

 Branches horizontal. Branchlets spreading, straight, decussate. Leaves 

 decussate, roundish-ovate or even cordate at base, acute, thickish, 

 smooth on each side, shining deep green on the upper side. Stipules 

 short, truncate with a mucro. Racemes axillary simple, secund. 

 Common peduncle downy ; pedicels smooth. Calyx 5-cleft, with 

 linear-lanceolate acute erect segments. Corolla inflated, funnel-shaped, 

 smooth, yellowish white, sometimes with a few purplish streaks in the 

 throat ; with the segments of the limb ovate, acute, inflexed. — The 

 roots of these two species are employed with confidence by the natives 

 of Brazil as a certain remedy for serpent bites. The infusion of the 

 bark of the root produces the most violent emetic and drastic effects. 

 In the words of Von Martius : " iEgrotus scilicet, e veneno languidus, 

 soporosus, vix sui compos, ex quo medicinam sumserit, primum eruc- 

 tationibus creberrimis et tantis motibus convulsivis excruciatur, ut, 

 licet exsanguis et quasi cum facie hippocratica, sub summa. virium labe, 

 in lectulum corruisset, ne unicum quidem temporis momentum quietus 

 maneri possit. Tandem post plurimos et visu terribiles spasmos uni- 

 versales et corporis volutationes, in enorines rapitur vomitus, quibus 

 salivam, bilem, chymum, immo feces larga copia edit. Tunc accedunt 

 439 F f 4 



