112 



3ILVA or N on Til AMERICA. 



ILICINE^. 



ten or fifteen feet j and it is only on the ricli bottom-lands of eastern Texas^ where it attains its largest 



size^ that it assumes a really tree-like habit. 



The wood o£ Hex vomitorla is heavy^ hard^ and close-grained. It is nearly white^ turning yellow 

 with exposure^ with thick light ei^colored sapw^ood^ and contains numerous conspicuous medullary rays. 

 The specific gravity of the absolutely diy Avood is 0.7270^ a cubic foot of the dry wood weighing 45,31 



pounds. 



Branches of this plant covered with fruit are sold during the winter months in the northern cities 



for decorative purposes. 



The Indians of the southern part of the country formerly visited the coast in large numbers every 



spring for the purpose of drinking an infusion of the leaves of the Yaupon^ which are emetic and purga- 

 tive.^ These medicinal properties attracted the attention of early travelers in America^ and the plant, 

 according to Plukenetj was common in the gardens about London in 1700, the date of the publication 

 of his Mantissa^ in which it was first described.^ The Yaupon was early introduced into Bermuda^ 

 where it has become naturalized.^ 



^ Nunez Cabe^a de Vaca saw the Cutalcbiches drinking a tea 

 made from the Icavea of this tree, "Behen tamhien otra cosa, que 

 sacan de las Lojas de los Arboles, conio de Eneinaj i tnestanla en 

 unos botes al fuegOj i despues que la tienen tostada, hinehen cl bote 

 de agua, i asf lo tienen sobre el fuego, i quando ha hervido dos 

 veceSj echanlo en una Vasija, i estdii enfriandola eon media Cala- 

 baea ; i quando estfl eon mucho espuma, bebenla tan calientej quanto 

 pueden snfrir ; i desde que la sacan del Bote, hasta que la beben, 

 estin dando voces, dicieudo ; Que quten qniere beber, . . . i estan 

 hebiendola tres dias, fin comer, i cada dia bebe cada uno arroba i me- 

 dia de ella." (Naufragios, cap. 26, Barciuj Hist^ Prim. Ind. Occ. ii.) 

 And the followers of Laudonnifere found the Indians in 1564 fre- 

 quenting the shore of Florida near the mouth of the St. John's 

 ilivcr for a similar purpose, "They drinke this Cassine very 

 hotte : . , . they make so great account of this drinke that no man 

 may taste thereof in this assembly unlesse hee hath made proofe of 

 his valure in the warre. Moreouer, this drinke hath such a vertuc 



that assoone as they haue drunke it, they become all in a sweate 

 which sweate being passed, it taketh away hunger and thirst for 

 foure and twenty hours after." (Hakluyt, Voyages^ ed, Evans, iii. 

 370.) There is a picture representing the Indians of Florida drink- 

 ing "Casinam" in the narrative of the French artist, Le Moyue 

 do Morgue, who accompanied Laudonni^re to Florida (De Bry, 

 Voyages, Part II. t. 29). Accounts of the *' Black Drink'' of the 

 southern Indians are found also in Charlevoix's Histoire de la Nou* 

 velle France^ I'i. 221, and in John Lawsou's History of Carolina, 90< 

 See also B. S. Barton, ColL i. 38, 59. — U. 5. Dispens. ed. 14, 1G70 ; 

 NaU Dispens. ed» 2, 754, 



^ Cassine vera Floridanorura Arhuscula haccifera Alaierni ferrae 

 facie, foliis alternatim sitis, tetrapyrene, 40. — Catesby, Nat, HisL 

 Car. ii, 57, t. 57. 



Cassine, Clayton, FL Virgin. 33 (excL syn.), 



s Lefroy, Bat Bermuda, Bull, U. S, Nat Mus, No, 25, 59, 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 



Plate XLVIIL. Ilex vomitoria, 



L A flowering branch of the sterile plant, natural size. 



^ 2, A flowering branch of the fertile plant, natural size, 



3. A sterile flower, enlarged. 



4. Vertical section of a sterile flower, enlarged. 



5. Posterior and anterior views of a stamen, enlarged. 



6. A fertile flower, enlarged, 



7. Vertical section of a fertile flower, enlarged. 



8. A fertile flower, the petals removed. 



9. Cross section of an ovary^ enlarged 

 10, A fruiting branch, natural size. 



11- Vertical section of a fniit, enlarged. 



12. Cross section of a fruit, enlarged, 



13. A nutlet, enlarged. 



