ZYGOPHYLLACEA. 493 
surrounded by glands or a toothed disk; style simple ; ovules 2 or 
more in each cell (figs. 659 and 660); placentas axile. Fruit 
capsular, dehiscing in a loculicidal manner, or separating into 
cocci, 4- or 5-celled, and presenting externally as many angles 
or winged expansions as cells; rarely indehiscent. Seeds few ; 
albumen in small quantity, or rarely absent ; radicle superior ; 
cotyledons foliaceous. 
Diagnosis.—Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with opposite stipulate 
dotless leaves. Calyx and corolla with a quaternary or 
quinary arrangement ; the former convolute in estivation, the 
latter with unguiculate petals and imbricate. Stamens 8—10, 
hypogynous, usually arising from the back of scales. Ovary 4—5- 
celled ; style simple. Fruit 4- or 5-celled. Seeds few, with 
little or no albumen ; radicle superior ; cotyledons foliaceous. 
Distribution and Numbers.—They are generally distributed 
throughout the warm regions of the globe, but chiefly beyond 
the tropics. Illustrative Genera :—Zygophyllum, Linn. ; Guai- 
acum, Plum. There are about 100 species. Melianthus is by 
some botanists separated from the Zygophyllacex, and taken as 
the type of a new order, to which the name Melianthez has 
been applied. 
Properties and Uses.—Some of the plants are resinous, and 
possess stimulant, alterative, and diaphoretic properties ; others 
are anthelmintic. The’ wood of the arborescent species is 
remarkable for its hardness and durability. 
Guaiacum.—The heart-wood, and the resin obtained from the stem of 
G. officinale and G: sanctum are official in the British Pharmacopeeia ; they 
are commonly known as Guaiacum Wood, and Guaiacum Resin. The resin 
is generally procured by burning logs of the wood much incised in the mid- 
dle, and catching the resin as it flows from the central incised portion in a 
calabash or some other suitable vessel placed below it. It also exudes to some 
extent spontaneously, and especially so when the tree is cut or wounded in 
any way. Both the wood and resin are used as stimulants, diaphoreties, and 
alteratives, chiefly in gout and rheumatism, but also in syphilitic and various 
cutaneous affections. The wood is known in commerce as Lignum Vite. 
It is remarkable for its hardness, toughness, and durability, which qualities 
render it very valuable for many purposes. The leaves are also used in the 
West Indies, on account of their detersive qualities, for scouring and whiten- 
ing floors.—G. sanctum has similar medicinal properties to the above, and 
vields an analogous resin. A portion of the resin of commerce and also of 
the wood is obtained from this species; hence, as already noticed, this plant 
is likewise official in the British Pharmacopeeia. 
Larrea mexicana.—This plant is remarkable for having an odour resem- 
bling creasote : hence it is commonly known as the Creasote Plant. The 
Mexicans are said to use an infusion of the leaves for bathing in with good 
effect in rheumatic affections. 
Melianthus major.—The flowers of this species contain a large amount of 
saccharine matter, which is used for food by the natives of the Cape of 
Good Hope, where the plant abounds. 
Peganum Harmala—In India the seeds are reputed to be stimulant, em- 
menagogue, and anthelmintic. In Turkey they are used as a spice, and also 
in the preparation of red dyes; these dyes are, however, not of a very per- 
manent nature. 
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