CINCHONACEiE. 



892. B. ferruginea DC. prodr. iv. 547. — Spermacoce ferru- 

 ginea Aug. de St. Hil. pi. us. 13. t. 13. — Pastures in Brazil, 

 in the provinces of the Mines and St. Paulo. 



Stem hard, erect, branched, herbaceous. Branches quadrangular, 

 hairy with rufous down. Leaves oblong, acute, obliquely 3-4-veined, 

 scabrous above, pale beneath and rough with hairs on the principal 

 veins. Stipules with their bristles as long as the sheath. Whorls of 

 flowers globose, terminal and axillary. Flowers pink or white, with 

 their lobes hairy at the apex. Capsule downy, crowned with the 4 

 subulate teeth of the calyx. — Root emetic like that of Cephaelis 

 Ipecacuanha. 



893. B. Poaya DC. prodr. iv. 549 — Spermacoce Poaya 

 var. a Aug. de St. Hil. pi. tis. bras. t. 12. — Upland plains in the 

 Province of Mines in Brazil, common. 



Quite smooth. Stem herbaceous, simple, 4-cornered. Leaves ses- 

 sile, oblong-elliptical, acute, with 6 oblique veins on each side. Stipules 

 split into numerous long bristles, Flowers blue, with the points of the 

 lobes hairy. Whorls capitate, sessile, axillary, few in number, the 

 upper one the largest. Lobes of calyx 4, linear-lanceolate, acute, longer 

 than the ovary. Corolla nearly smooth. Anthers protruding. — Root 

 emetic, substituted for Ipecacuanha. Leaves at first sweet, but after- 

 wards acid ; a decoction of them is used in the cure of colic. 



RICHARDSONIA. 

 Limb of calyx of 4-7 unequal teeth, without any intermediate 

 accessory ones. Corolla funnel-shaped, with an obconical tube, 

 and a 3-5-lobed spreading valvate limb. Stamens 3-5, exserted. 

 Style 3-4-cleft at the apex. Capsule at first crowned by the 

 calyx; afterwards cut round the base and dropping off; con- 

 taining 3-4 1 -seeded membran >us indehiscent kernels. Seeds 

 solitary, peltate. — Decumbent American herbaceous plants. 

 Roots woody, nearly simple. Stipules multifid. Flowers capitate. 



894. R. scabra Mart. spec. mat. med. bras. x. t. 9. f. 13 and 14. 



Aug. de St. Hil. pi- us. bras. t. 8. DC. prodr. iv. 567 Ri- 



chardia scabra Willd. ii. 222. Richardia brasiliensis Gomez mem. 

 Ipecac, c. ic. Richardsonia brasiliensis Virey in Diet. sc. med. 

 vi. 345. c. ic. Richardia pilosa HBK. iii. 350. t. 279. Sper- 

 macoce hexandra Ach. Rich. hist. nat. ipecac, p. 13. Spermacoce 

 hirsuta R. and S. iii. 531. — Brazil, New Granada, Vera Cruz, 

 Peru, &c. 



Stems prostrate or ascending, a foot and more long, hairy, branched 

 near the ground. Leaves obovate, obtuse or apiculate, ovate, or 

 oblon^, pale green, rough with whitish hairs. Flowers white, 20 or 

 more in a hemispherical head, surrounded with 3 or 4 floral leaves like 

 those of the stem. Calyx-teeth C, triangular, nearly equal, membranous 

 and hairy at the edge. Corolla slightly ventricose in the middle. — 

 The root is imported as a substitute for Ipecacuanha, and forms the 

 undulated, amylaceous, or white Ipecacuanha of pharmaceutical writers. 

 It does not contain, according to Pelletier, more than 6 per cent, of 

 Emetina. 



444 



