604 



LOGANIACEiE. 



[Perigynous Exogens. 



diness and convulsions are known to follow their exhibition, if given in an ovei'-dose. In 

 India there is a nut called the Clearing Nut, of which the ripe seeds are dried, and 

 sold in every market, to clear muddy water. The natives never drink clear well water, 

 if they can get pond or river water, wliich is always more or less* impure according to 

 circumstances. One of the seeds is well rubbed for a minute or two round the inside of 

 the vessel, generally an unglazed earthen one, containing the water, which is then left 

 to settle ; in a very short time the impm-ities fall to the bottom, leaving the water clear. 

 The natives of India eat the pulp of the fruit when ripe ; Dr. Roxburgh found it disa- 

 greeable. These nuts are produced by Strychnos potatorum. Bitter Almonds are said 

 to be employed for the same pm-pose in Egypt, and those of the Kola, or Stercuha, in 

 Sierra Leone, The Spigehas participate in the noxious properties of Strychnos. Both 

 root and leaves of Spigelia marilandica, the Carolina Pink-root, and S. anthelmia, are 

 active anthelmintics ; their efficacy is much impaii'ed by keeping. They are also purgative 

 and narcotic in a slight degi'ee, seem to be acrid narcotics, and are apt to produce 

 very unpleasant sjinptons after being exhibited ; dimness of sight, giddiness, dilated 

 pupil, spasms of the muscles of the eyes, and even con\-ulsions are reported by Barton to 

 ha ve been brought on by them. Spigelia glabrata is reckoned by Martins among poisons ; 

 and Mr. Hartweg reports that a species of the same genus kills dogs in equatorial 

 America. An infusion of the leaves of Potalia resinifera is sUghtly mucilaginous and 

 astinngent, and is used in Brazil as a lotion for inflamed eyes. Potalia amara is bitter 

 like the Gentians, and acrid and emetic like Dogbanes. 



GENERA. 



I. Spigele,^. 



Spigelia, L. 



Canala, Pohl. 



Montira, Aubl. 



Arapabaca, Plum. 



Ccelosti/lis, ToiT. et Gr. 

 Mitreola, L, 



II. Strychne^. 



Strychnos, L. 

 Rouhamon, Aubl. 

 Lasiostoma, Schr. 



Brehmia, Harv. 

 Ignatia, L. 

 Pagamea, Aubl. 

 Gardneria, Wall. 



Cyathoapermum, Wall. 

 Antonia, Pohl. 

 Labordia, Gaud. 

 listeria, W. 



Moiiodynamis , Gmel. 



III. LoGANEiE. 



Logania, R. Br. 



Euosma, Andr. 



Stomandra, R. Br. 

 Geniostoma, Forst. 



Anasser, Juss. 



Hcemospermum, Bl. 

 Fagraea, Thunb. 



Ktihlia, Reinw. 



Utania, Don. 



Kentia, Steud. 

 Cyrtophyllum, Reiniv. 

 Picrophloeus, Bl. 



Gsertnera, Lam. 



FruUsca, DC. 



Andersonia, Schl. 

 Sykesia, Am. 

 Potalia, Aubl. 



Nicandra, Schreb. 

 Anthocleista, Afz. 

 ? Codonanthus, G. Don. 

 ? Anabata, W. 



Sulzeria, R. et Sch. 



Numbers. Gen. 22. Sp. 162. 

 Cinchonacea. 

 Position. — Apocynacese. — Loganiace^. — Gentianacese. 

 Rhizophoracece. 



CAssiPouREiE, {Meim. Gen. p. 119.— Legnotideae, Bartl. Ord. Nat. Endl. Gen. 1186). Trees or shrubs. 



Leaves opposite, nearly entire, with interpetiolar 



stipules. Flowers axillary, solitary, or clustered. 

 Calyx campanulate, 4- 5-cleft, valvate. Petals 

 4-5, fringed, inserted into the bottom of the calyx. 

 Stamens 2 or 3 times as many as the petals, dis- 

 tinct, inserted into the bottom of the calyx or the 

 back of a disk; filaments free ; anthers 2-celled, 

 turned inwards. Ovary superior, 3- to 5-celled ; 

 ovules 2 or many in each cell, pendulous or 

 attached to the axis ; style simple ; stigma obtuse. 

 Fruit berried or capsular. Embryo in the axis 

 of fleshy albumen ; radicle superior ; cotyledons 



fiat or half-cylindrical. These are tropical 



shrubs, and are usually placed with Mangroves ; 

 but their seeds have albumen, and the ovary is 

 perfectly distinct from the calyx. The points of 

 resemblance consist in the fleshy valvate calyx, 

 the fringed petals, which are like those of Kan- 

 delia, and the presence of stipules. Brown, after 

 comparing this Cassipourea with the Mangroves 

 called CaraUias, was led to conclude that we have 

 a series of structures connecting Rhizophora, on 

 the one hand, with certain genera of Loose- 

 strifes, particularly with Antheryhum, though 

 that genus wants the intermediate stipules ; and, 

 on the other, with Cunoniads, especially with the 

 simple-leaved species of Ceratopetalum'.— C'o«^o. 

 437. This is doubtless the fact, and Cassipourea 

 may probably be regarded as one of those oscu- 

 lant groups whose relationship is nearly equal in 

 several opposite directions. But upon the whole 

 it seems to have more real affinity with Loga- 

 niads than with the Orders just mentioned. Its 



Fig. CCCCIX.— Cassipourea elliptica. — Hooker. 1. a flower; 2. stamens ; 3. pistil ; 4. cross section 

 of the ovary. 



Fig. CCCCIX. 



