470 



SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



been substituted recently in this country for Indian Bael (see JEgle Marmelos) 

 It has been employed with great advantage in India in chronic dian-hoea 

 and in advanced stages of dysentery. 6. cornea, Kydiana, and pedunculata, 

 also yield fruits of a similar character to the Mangosteen, although very 

 inferior to it. The seeds of G. purpurea, upon being boiled in water, yield 

 a concrete oil, called Kokum Butter, or Concrete Oil of Mangosteen. 

 It is useful in chapped hands, &c., and might be employed in the prepara- 

 tion of suppositories, and for other pharmaceutical purposes. A good deal 

 has been recently imported into this country. 



Mammea americana.— The fruit of this plant is highly esteemed in the 

 West Indies and South America. It is known under the names of the Mam- 

 mee Apple and Wild Apricot of South America. The seeds are anthelmintic. 

 A spii-it and a kind of wine maybe also obtained fi-om this plant— thus, 

 from the flowers a kind of spirit, and from the sap a wine. 



Mesua. — The species of this genus are remarkable for their very hard 

 timber. Lindley remarks, " that the root and bark of these plants are bitter, 

 aromatic, and powerfully sudorific ; their leaves mucilaginous ; their unripe 

 fruit aromatic, acrid, and purgative." The flower-buds of Mesua ferrea 

 occur in the bazaars of India, with those of Calysaccion longifolium (see 

 Calysaccion) under the name of Nag-kassar ; they are highly esteemed 

 for their fragrance, and are also used in Bengal, as weU as the leaves of 

 the same plant, as antidotes to snake-poisons. Nag-kassar is also much 

 employed for dyeing silks. Nag-kassar was imported into England a few 

 years since. The flower-buds are about the size of pepper-corns, of a cin- 

 namon-brown colour, and have a very fragrant odour, somewhat resembling 

 that of violets. 



Pentadesma butpracea. — The fruit of this plant, when cut, yields a fatty 

 matter ; hence it is called the Butter or Tallow Tree of Sierra Leone. 



Natural Order 36, Hypericace^. — The St. John's Wort 

 Order {fgs. 888 — 890). — Ch&r actev.— Herbs, shrubs, or trees. 

 Leaves opposite or rarely alternate, exstipulate, simple, often 

 dotted, and bordered with black glands. Flowers regular. Sepals 

 4 or 5 (fig. 888), persistent, unequal, distinct or united at the 



Fi^. 888. 



Fig. 889. 



Fig. 890. 



Fig. 888. Diapram of the flower of a species of St. John's Wort {Eyperi- 

 cum). Fig. 889. Vertical section of the flower of a species of Hyperi- 

 cum. Fig. 890. "Vertical section of the seed of a species of Hypericum. 



base, imbricated. Petals (fig. 888) equal in number to the se- 

 pals, hypogynous, unequal-sided, frequently bordered with black 

 glands ; (sstivatmi twisted. Staynens usually numerous, rarely 

 few, hypogynous (fig. 889), mostly polyadelphous (fig. 540), or 



