.586 SYSTEMATIC BOTAXY. 



rpmarkablo that Mate contains Theine, the alkaloid already noticed as exist- 

 ing in China Tea, &c. (See Thea, page 468.) Like China Tea it also con- 

 tains a vegetable oil, tannin, and gluten ; its properties are also somewhat 

 similar, but it is more exciting, and when taken to excess produces a kind 

 of intoxication. In Brazil a kind of Mat6, called Gongonha, is also prepared 

 from /. gongonha and /. theezans. Mat6 tea is generally used in Brazil, 

 Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Chili, &c. Johnston estimated some years since 

 the consumption of Mate at 20 millions of pounds annually. From the 

 great astringency of the fresh leaves of /. paraguayensis, I, gongonha, &c., 

 they are used by the dyers in Brazil. 



Prinos glaber. — The leaves of this plant, which is a native of North Ame- 

 rica, are used as a substitute for China Tea. This is known under the name 

 of Appalachian Tea. (See page 567, Viburnum.) The hark ot P. verticillatus, 

 called Black Alder Bark or Winter Berry, is employed in the United States, 

 in the form of a decoction, as a tonic and astringent. 



Natural Order 142. Sapotace^. — The Sapota or Sapodilla 

 Order. — Character. — Trees or shrubs, often haA-ing a milky 

 juice. Leaves alternate, simple, entire, coriaceous, exstipulate. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx usually with 5, or sometimes 

 with 4 — 8 divisions, persistent. Corolla with as many divisions 

 as the calyx, or twice, or thrice as many. Stamens definite, in 

 a single row, half of them sterile and alternating with the fertile 

 ones, the latter being opposite to the segments of the corolla ; 

 anthers commonly extrorse. Ovary 4 — 12-celled, with a solitary 

 anatropous ovule in each cell; style 1. Fruit fleshy. Seeds 

 large, with a shining bony testa ; embryo large, usually in albu- 

 men, and with a short radicle. 



Distribution, Sfc. — Natives chiefly of the tropical parts of 

 Asia, Africa, and America. Examples of the Genera : — Chryso- 

 phyllum, Achras, Isonandra, Bassia. There are about 216 species. 



Projyerties and Uses. — Many species yield edible fruits ; others 

 are valuable timber trees. The seeds of several contain a fatty 

 oil. Some have bitter astringent febrifugal barks, and the milky 

 juices of others yield a substance analogous in its general cha- 

 racters to caoutchouc or india-rubber. 



Achras. — Several species of this genus yield dessert fruits ; thus the fruit of 

 A . Sapota is the Sapodilla Plum ; that of A . mammosa, the Marmalade. Achras 

 Sapota has also a febrifugal bark, and diuretic and aperient seeds. Its wood 

 is called Bully-tree Wood or Black Bully. This has a greenish colour, and is 

 veiy hard. It is imported, and used for ship-building, &c. (See Mimusops.) 

 The bark of several other species has been also employed as a substitute for 

 Cinchona. Achras or Sapota MuUeri, a native of Guiana and Central Ame- 

 rica, yields a kind of Gutta Percha, called Batatas. 



Bassia. — The ripe kernels of B. latifolia and those of B. longifolia, the El- 

 loopa-tree, yield fatty oils which are much employed in India, for lamps, for 

 culinary purposes, in snap-making, and extenially in cutaneous affections. 

 The flowers and fruits serve as food to man and other animals ; and the 

 flowers by distillation yield an alcoholic spirit, which is in much repute in 

 some parts of India. The flowers of B. longifolia, under the name of Elloopa, 

 have been recently imported into London. The wood of B. longifolia and others 

 is hard and durable, and the bark and leaves are used in medicine. From 

 the seeds of B. butiiracea a concrete oil is also obtained in India. It is known 

 under the name of Fiilwa Butter. It is highly esteemed as an external ap- 

 plication in rheumatism, &c. The Shea or Galam butter of African travel- 

 lers is said to be yielded by another species of Bassia, probably B. Parkii. 



Chrysophylluin. — The fmit of C. Cainito is known under the name of the 



