498 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



Picrcena (Picrasma) excelsa, yields the ofBcinal Quassia'Wood of the Ma- 

 teria Medica. (See Quassia.) It is much used as a tonic, febrifuge, and sto- 

 machic, and it also possesses anthelmintic properties. An infusion of Quassia 

 sweetened with sugar acts as a powei-ful narcotic poison on flies and other 

 insects ; hence it is used as a fly-poison. Like other pure bitters, its infusion 

 may be also employed to preserve animal matters from decay. It is some- 

 times used by brewers as a substitute for hops, although prohibited by severe 

 statutes in this and other countries. It owes its active properties chiefly 

 to the presence of an intensely bitter crystalline substance, called Quassine 

 or QuassUe. In Jamaica this plant is known under the name of Bitter 

 Ash or Bitter Wood. The wood was used extensively a few years since 

 in the manufacture of small goblets, which were sold under the name oT 

 hitter-cups. 



Quassia amara.— The wood of this plant is intensely bitter. It is a native 

 of Surinam, &c., and was formerly much used as a febrifuge and tonic ; the 

 flowers are also stomachic. It is the original Quassia of the shops, but it is 

 no longer imported ; that now sold under the name of Quassia being derived 

 from Picrcena excelsa, a native of Jamaica, &c. : hence the latter may be 

 called Jamaica Quassia, and the former Surinam Quassia. (See above.) 



Siinaba Cedron.—Th.e seeds of this plant are highly esteemed throughout 

 Central America, where they are used for their febrifugal properties, and are 

 thought to be a specific against the bites of venomous snakes and other 

 noxious animals. They have been used in this country for the latter pur- 

 I)ose, but without any sensible effect. The active principle, which was 

 discovered by M. Lecoy, has been named cedrine. 



Simaruba amara is a native of South America and the West Indian 

 Islands, particularly Jamaica, where it is known under the name of Mountain 

 Damson. The bai-k of the root acts as a tonic, and has been used in diarrhoea, 

 dysentery, &c. It contains Quassine, the same principle which has been 

 found in (Quassia-wood. 



Natural Order 64. Zygophyllace.is. — The Bean-Caper or 

 Guaiacum Order. — Character. — Herbs, shrubs, ov trees. Leaves 

 opposite, stipulate, without dots, usually imparipinnate, or rarely 

 simple. Flowers pex*fect, regular, and symmetrical. Calyx 4 

 or 5-parted, convolute. Petals unguiculate, 4 or 5, imbricated in 

 aestivation, hypogynous. Stamens 8—10, hypogynous, usually 

 arising from the back of small scales ; filameiits dilated at the 

 base. Ovary 4 — 5-celled, surrounded by glands, or a toothed 

 disk; style simple; ovules 2 or more in each cell {figs. 645 

 and 646), pendulous, or rarely erect; 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, 

 albuminous except in Tribulus and Kallstromia ; embryo green ; 

 radicle superior ; cotyledons foliaceous. 



Diagnosis. — Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with opposite stipulate 

 leaves, without dots. Calyx and corolla with a quaternary or 

 quinary distribution; the former convolute in aestivation, the 

 latter with unguiculate petals and imbricated. 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 a little or no albumen ; radicle superior ; cotyledons 

 foliaceous. 



Distribution, ^x. — They are generally distributed throughout 



