RUTALES.] 



ZYGOPHVLLACE^. 



479 



Zygophyllum Fabago is sometimes employed as an anthelmintic. The ligneous plants 

 of the Order are remarkable for the extreme hardness of their wood. All the Guaia- 

 cums are well known for their exciting properties ; the bark and wood of Guaiacum 

 sanctum and officinale have a somewhat bitter and acrid flavour, and are principally 

 employed as sudorifics, diaphoretics, or alteratives ; they contain a particular matter 

 often designated as resin or gum-resin, but which is now considei'ed a distinct substance, 

 called Guaiacine. According to Dr. Hancock (in the Gardeners' Chronicle), the medical 

 value of Guaiacum resides principally in the bark. The foliage is very detersive, and 

 is frequently used in the West Indies to scour and whiten floors, which it is said to do 

 better than soap. Porlieria hygrometrica has similar properties. The wood called 

 Lignum vitse is remarkable for the du-ection of its fibres, one layer of which often 

 crosses another diagonally ; a circumstance first pointed out to me by Professor Voigt. 

 This valuable timber is generally said to be furnished by Guaiacum officinale ; but it is 

 probably the wood of some other species, for the small size of that tree seems quite 

 incompatible with the production of timber 4 or 5 uiches in diameter. — See Bot. Reg. I. c. 

 The flowers of ]\Ielianthus major are so full of honey, that the natives of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, where it grows wild, obtain it for food by shaking the branches, when it 

 falls in a heavy shower. The flowers of Zygophyllum Fabago area substitute for Capers; 

 the smell of Z. simplex is so detestable that no animal will touch the foUage, not even 

 the camel ; the Arabs, however, beat the leaves in water, and apply the infusion in 

 diseases of the eyes. The Turks use the seeds of Peganum Harmala as a spice, and for 

 dyeing red. 



GENERA. 



I. Tribule-e. — SeedsjII. Zygophylle^. 



without albumen. 



Tribulus, Townef. 

 Kallstromia, <Sct»p. 



Ehrenbergia, Mart. 



Heterozygis, Bung. 



Seeds with albumen. 



Peganum, L. 



Harmala, Much. 

 Malacocarpus, F. el M. 

 Chitonia, Mog. et Sess. 

 Juliania, Llav. et Lex. 



Fagonia, Tournef. 

 Sarcozygium, Biinge. 

 Ropera, Adr. Juss. 

 Zygophyllum, Linn. 



Fabago, Tournef. 



Agrophyllum, Neck. 

 Eurynema, Endl. 



Trichanthera, Ehrenb. 

 Larrea, Cav. 

 Porliera, Ruiz et Pav. 

 Plectrocarpa, Gill. 

 Guajacum, Plum. 

 Seetzenia, R. Br. 

 Melianthus, L. 



Numbers. Gen. 7. Sp. 100. 



PosTTiON. — Simarubaceee, — Zyggphyllace^. — Elatinacese. 

 Oxalidacece. 



