152 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOE. 



LESSONS IN BOTANY. XVIII. 



SECTION XXXIII. LEGUMINOS.S:, OK THE LEGUMINOUS 



TRIBE (continued). 



THE order Leguminosae is that beyond all others which furnishes 

 the greatest number and variety of 

 substances useful in medicine, do- 

 mestic economy, and the industrial 

 arts. Many possess a saccharine 

 principle which pervades their roots, 

 1 the stem and leaves containing but 

 little. Of this kind is the liquorice 

 (Glycyrrliiza glabra). 



The confection used in medicine 

 for disguising the flavour of any dis- 

 agreeable preparation and for coughs 

 is prepared in Spain from the rhi- 

 zomes of the Glycyrrhiza glabra, and 

 in Italy from the roots of the Gly- 

 cyrr'fviza echinata. Many acres at 

 Mitcham, in Surrey, and Pontefract, 

 in Yorkshire, are devoted to the cul- 

 ture of the former plant. The sweet 

 taste is due to the presence of a kind 

 of sugar, to which the name of gly- 

 cyrrhizin has been given, and which 

 cannot be crystallised like the sugar 

 obtained from the sugar-cane, maple, 

 beet, and other sugar-yielding plants. 

 It should be said that liquorice is 

 used in great quantities by brewers 

 for giving a 

 dark colour 

 to porter. 

 The leaves 

 of some of 

 theLegumi- 

 nosae fur- 

 nish us with 

 a very valu- 

 able medi- 

 cine. 



These are 

 known as 

 the Cassia 

 officinalis 

 and its va- 

 rieties, Cas- 

 sia, lanceo- 

 lata, Cassia 

 obovata,a,n<l 

 Cossia acu- 

 tifolia, the 

 leaves of 

 which,when 

 dried, fur- 

 nish the 

 mild purga- 

 tive called 

 senna. In 

 Fig. 164 we 

 give a repre- 

 sentation of 

 the leaves, 

 blossom, 

 and bud of 

 the Cassia 

 fl.oribunda, 



or the bundle-flowered cassia, a pretty annual which bears a 

 yellow flower. 



Certain species possess roots furnished with tubers containing 

 starch and sugar. Of this kind is the alhagi of the Moors 

 (Alhagi Maurorum), a native of Asia and tropical Africa. In 

 Persia this vegetable exudes from its stem a delicate manna. 



The fruits and seeds of many of the Leguminosse, such as the 

 haricot bean, gathered before maturity, contain mucilage and 

 sngar ; and thus furnish us with an article of vegetable food. If 

 they arc allowed to gvcw quite ripe, the "3ed becomes highly 



164 THE BUNDLE-FLOWERED CASSIA (CASSIA FLORIBUNDA). 165. BLOSSOMS AND LEAVES OF THE LOGWOOD TREE 

 (H.EMATOXYLON CAMFECHIANUM). 16(5. EVERLASTIMJ PEA (LATIIYKUS LATHOLITJS). 



charged with starch, and is used as food in another form. Th/> 

 peas and beans of our gardens may be considered as exclusively 

 belonging to temperate climates. Tropical regions, neverthe- 

 less, have their papilionaceous substitutes. Amongst the most 

 remarkable of these is the underground bean of Brazil (Arachis 

 hypogoea), an annual plant, the fruits 

 of which, very soon after impregna- 

 tion, elongates downwards, penetrates 

 below the earth, and buries itself 

 some two or three inches deep. The 

 fruit having thus dug its own grave, 

 ripens in this curious position, and 

 produces oily seeds, which are eaten 

 In the greater number of the spe- 

 cies the ripe pod-husk is tough and 

 leathery. In the carob bean, how- 

 ever, it is soft and good to eat. The 

 carob bean (Ceratonia siliqua) is a 

 very common tree on the shores of 

 the Mediterranean, and its pulpy 

 saccharine fruit is eagerly eaten by 

 animals. It is supposed by some 

 that the denomination carat weight* 

 equal to 3* grains troy, employed by 

 jewellers for weighing diamonds, etc., 

 is derived from the seeds of thia 

 plant: it is more probable, how- 

 ever, that it is taken from the term 

 carat, a name originally given to the 

 seeds of the Abyssinian coral flower, 

 or coral tree (Erythrina Abyssinica). 

 The seeds of 

 this plant 

 are very 

 small and 

 uniform in 

 size and 

 weight. 



Many Pa. 

 pilionacea} 

 have a mu- 

 cilaginous 

 saccharine 

 stem,slight- 

 ly bitter and 

 aromatic, 

 and yield- 

 ing excel- 

 lent pastur- 

 age. Fore- 

 most in this 

 list are the 

 vetches, tre- 

 foils, clo- 

 vers, andlu- 

 cernes. The 

 f e n u g r eek 

 diffuses a. 

 somewhat 

 disagree- 

 able odour, 

 yet its seeds 

 are held in 

 great esti- 

 mation by 

 Turkish la- 

 dies, with 

 whom ex 



treme fatness is considered as the greatest point of personal 

 beauty. 



The delicious Tonqnin bean (Dipteryx odorata) nsed by per- 

 fumers, and also by snuff-makers for scenting snuff, owes its 

 distinctive characteristic to the presence of a sort of volatile 

 oil, named by the chemists coumarine. 



Among the Papilionacece that are more ornamental than useful 

 may be named the sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), a favourite 

 hardy, climbing annual, and the deciduous climber known as 

 the everlasting pea (Lathyrus lattfoiius), The peculiar paja- 



