317 



ARTOCARPUS. 



ASARUM. 



Fruit, which forma an article of food with the South Sea Islanders. 

 [ARTOCARPUS.] 



A species of A ntiai-ii produces sacks, hence it is called Sack-Tree. The 

 following is the process by which these sacks are obtained. " A branch 

 is cut corresponding to the length and diameter of the sack wanted. 

 It is soaked a little, and then beaten with clubs till the fibre separates 

 from the wood. This done, the sack formed of the bark Is turned 

 inside out, and pulled down till the wood is sawed, with the exception 

 of a small piece left to form the bottom of the sack." These sacks 

 are in general use in the West Indies, and specimens may be seen in 

 the Museum of the Gardens at Kew. The Water-Vine (Phytocrme) 

 belongs to this order, the sap and porous wood of which when cut 

 discharges a quantity of pure water, which is drunk by the natives of 

 the province of Martaban, where it grows. The seeds of many of the 

 species are eaten in the countries where they grow. 



To those unacquainted with botany it may appear strange that the 

 Nettle and the Fig are both arranged in the same order. If, however, 

 we investigate the matter carefully, we shall find that in the structure 

 of the stem, leaves, stipules, calyx, stamens, and fruit, these two 

 plants are so like each other that it is impossible to discover more 

 than one solitary essential character, namely that of the position of 

 the young seeds, by which they can be distinguished ; and that the 

 differences which meet the unpractised eye are entirely connected 

 with the size and manner hi which the flowers are arranged. 



ARTOCARPUS, the Bread-Fruit, is the genus which has given its 

 name to the natural order Artocarpacece. It consists of trees having 

 stems of very considerable size ; large leaves, which are exceedingly 

 rough with little points ; stipules like those of the fig ; and monoe- 

 cious flowers, of which the stamen-bearing ones are disposed in long 

 club-shaped spikes (Jig. A 3), and the pistil-bearing ones in round 

 heads (fg. A 2), which become the fruit, and often arrive at a very 

 considerable size (fiij. A 4). 



A Bread-Fruit is a fig (Ficus) turned inside out, and much larger hi 

 all its parts ; that is to say, the flowers which form the Bread-Fruit 

 and Fig grow hi both cases upon a fleshy receptacle ; but in the former 

 the receptacle is solid, and bears its flowers externally, while in the 

 latter it is hollow, and bears its flowers internally. 



The stamen-bearing flowers of Artocarpus (fys. B, C) consist of a 

 tubular calyx containing a single stamen ; the pistil-bearing flowers 



B 



D 



Bi cad-Fruit (Artocarpua n 



A, a shoot very much less than the natural size with stamen-bearing flowers 

 3 ; pistil-bearing flowers 2 ; fruit 4 ; and its stipules 1: B, a stamen-brarinp 

 flower ; C, the same opened ; D, three pistil-bearing flowers, sliced open at the 

 bottom to show the ovaries ; E, a portion of the fruit showing the nuts in the 

 inside. 



(fly. D) consist of two or three fleshy sepals grown closely together 

 and meeting at the points, between which passes a long slender style 

 with two stigmas, which are hairy and curved downwards. The 

 ovary is simple, and contains but one ovule. At a very early period 



the flowers grow firmly together into a solid fleshy mass, which finally 

 becomes the fruit. The seeds are large nut-like bodies, which lie 

 beneath the rind of the fruit. 



Many species are known, some of which, as Artocarpus Chaplaslia 

 and hirsitta, are large trees, and yield valuable timber in the forests 

 of Bengal and Malabar. The species, however, best known are those 

 which yield the Bread-Fruit and the Jack. 



A. incua (the Bread-Fruit) is a native of the South Sea Islands 

 and of many parts of the Indian Archipelago ; it inhabits only 

 such places as are both hot and damp. Dr. Roxburgh complains that 

 the winters of Bengal are much too cold for it. In the South Sea 

 Islands it forms a moderate-sized tree, rarely exceeding 40 feet in 

 height, with leaves deeply divided into sharp lobes, and sometimes as 

 much as 3 feet long. The fruit is green and of considerable size, 

 equalling a melon of the larger kind in dimensions, and is of many 

 different forms : one variety produces it free from all spines on the 

 surface or from seeds internally ; this is the best sort : others are 

 split into deep lobes, or covered all over with the sharp-pointed fleshy 

 tops of the calyxes. The nuts, when roasted, are said to be as excel- 

 lent as the best chestnuts ; but it is principally for the fleshy receptacle 

 that it is valued. When roasted it becomes soft, tender, and white, 

 resembling the crumb of a loaf ; but it must be eaten new, or it 

 becomes hard and choky. Others compare the flavour to that of .1 

 roasted potato. What we have tasted has been in thin slices which 

 had been thoroughly dried, and it was very like a piece of dried 

 biscuit. In ' Anson's Voyages ' it is said to be delicious when ripe, 

 and when mixed with lime-juice or orange-juice to have a grateful 

 tart flavour, not unlike apple-sauce. 



It forms so important a part of the support of the South-Sea 

 Islanders that it was 4ntroduced by the British Government into the 

 West Indies, where it is still cultivated, and whence it has been carried 

 to the continent of America. It was to obtain this plant that the 

 unfortunate expedition of Captain Bligh was fitted out. It does not 

 appear, however, equal to the plantain as an article of human food. 



A. integrifolia, the Jack, is also a native of the islands of 

 the Indian Archipelago, and is in its general appearance like the 

 Bread-Fruit, but its leaves are totally destitute of all laceration, and 

 its fruit, which is very prickly, weighs 60 or 70 Ibs. This latter is 

 yellow, and constitutes the principal part of the diet of the natives in 

 some parts of India ; but it is said to have an offensive odour, and to 

 be little esteemed by Europeans : all, however, concur in attesting 

 the excellence of the nuts when roasted. 



Like all other Artocarpads this tree exudes a great quantity of a 

 viscid milky juice, from which the best bird-lime of India is prepared. 



(Botanical Magazine, vol. ii.) 



ARUM. [AROIDE^.] 



ARUNDO, a genus of Grasses, possessing the following characters : 

 Spikelets, each containing from two to five flowerets, which are distant 

 from each other, arranged in two ranks, hermaphrodite, the uppermost 

 being withered ; glumes two, sharp-pointed, channeled, and keeled, 

 nearly equal, membranous, as long as the flowerets, and at some 

 distance from each other ; palea; two, membranous ; the lowermost 

 slit at the end, with a very short beard between the sides of the slit, 

 covered externally, especially at the lower end and rachis, with very 

 long silky hairs. The species attain a considerable size, sometimes 

 acquiring a woody stem, and are found in many climates. 



Arundo Donax, a native of the south of Europe, the Caucasus, 

 Egypt, and Siberia, is one of the largest grasses that we have in culti- 

 vation ; it is not unusual to see it in rich soil 9 or 10 feet high, 

 with leaves as broad and as long as the blade of a small sword. A 

 beautifully variegated variety is usually seen in gardens. 



Arwndo arenaria, the Sea-Reed, or Marrum-Grass, a dwarf plant 

 which pierces the sand-banks on the shores of the north of Europe 

 with its tough subterranean stems, and which thus converts them into 

 living barriers against the inroads of the ocean, differs a little from 

 the exact character of Arundo, aud is called by modern botanists 

 Ammophila arundinacea. It is a very rigid plant, with bluish rolled- 

 up leaves, and a stem 2 or 3 feet high, terminated by a dense tuft 

 of flowers. 



The Common Reed' was formerly referred to the genus Arundo : it 

 is now placed under Phragmitei. [PHKAOMITES.] 



A'SAPHUS (Brongniart), a very extensive genus of Fossil Crustacea 

 (Trilobties), most abundant in the lower Palaeozoic Strata. Aiaphus 

 Buchii marks the Cambrian or Lower Silurian, as A. caudatiu is fre- 

 quent in the Upper Silurian Beds. 



ASA'HUM, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Arts- 

 tolochiacerf, distinguished by having the calyx bell-shaped and 3- 

 lobed ; the stamens placed upon the ovarium, the anthers adnate to 

 the middle of the filaments, the style short, stigma stellate, and (i- 

 lobed; the fruit capsular and 6-celled. The A. Etiropceum is known 

 by having two obtuse kidney-shaped leaves on each stem. It is a 

 perennial plant, found in woods in different parts of Britain. The 

 root, which is employed under the name of Asarabacca, contains a 

 camphor-like principle, and a bitter principle called Asarin, which is 

 combined with gallic acid. To these it is indebted for its action on 

 the human system. Taken into the stomach in a state of very fine 

 powder, it causes vomiting ; in coarser powder, it generally purges. 

 It was formerly employed as an emetic instead of ipecacuanha ; but. 



