

IB 



LESSONS IN BOTANY, \\.\vi I. 

 HUN CXIV.-LOGANIACKA:. 



Corolla monopetaloiiH, hypogynons, four to 



ten partito ; HtumciiM in number equal to that of the lobes of 



-Hi; ovary two to four-oelled, each containing one or 



more ovulea ; leaves opposite, stipulate ; fruit oapsular, or 



drupaceous, or fleshy ; seed dicotyledonous, albuminous. 



knot contains the most remarkable species 

 of thin natural on lor. The greater number possess in their 

 md seeds two alkaline principled termed respectively 

 .-7r/i-/min and brucine. The action of thoso on the animal 

 organism is extremely violent. The Strychnos Tieutt is a climh- 

 intf plant i >f tin- Javanese forests, with the juice of which the 

 natives poison their arrows. It is the celebrated upas, and is 

 ot'ti-n confounded with another Java- 

 nese vegetable poison, obtained from 

 the Antinris toxicaria, a tree belong- 

 ing to the natural family Artocarpece. 

 The Ourari, or Waiirali, is also a 

 poison furnished by another m 



usually trees or shrubs, seldom herbs, and for the most part 

 contain a milky juice. 



This natural order is rather frequent in tropical climate*, 

 but the number of species is very inconsiderable in our lati- 

 tudes. The milky, acrid, and bitter juice which flows from 

 many of the specie* imparts to the family an emetic and pnrgft- 

 tive tendency, which in some species is deleterious. The bark 

 of many of the dogbanes contains a bitter astringent principle ; 

 in othjr species a tinctorial matter predominates. The fleshy 

 fruit of others is eatable. The seed of many genera is poisonous, 

 whilst that of others is oily and inoffensive. 



In Fig. 274 the student will find representations of three of 

 the most beautiful members of the natural order Apocyiuuxas or 

 Dogbanes. Of these, the first takes its name from Tabenue- 

 montanus, a celebrated botanist, and is one of a numerous family 

 found chiefly in the East and West 

 Indies and South America; like the 

 second and third, it is a hothousi 

 plant, requiring a temperature vary- 

 ing from 55 in winter to 80 in sum- 

 mer. The caoutchouc-tree, and the 



275 



274. (1) TABERN.EMONTANA LONGIFLORA. (2) 

 ROUPELLIA GRATA. (3) DIPLADENIA 

 ATROPURPURKA. 



275. CERBKRA AHOUA1, A POISON-PLANT OI 

 *-* BRAZIL. 



276. TANGHINIA VENEKIFLDA, A POISON- 

 PLANT OF MADAGASCAR. 



of the same natural family, the Sh'ychnos toxifera, a native of 

 Guiana. The Indians who dwell on the banks of the Orinoco, 

 the Ipura, and the Bio Negro, employ this substance as a poison 

 for their arrows. 



The Nux-vomica tree, or koochla-tree of India (Strychnos A T uz- 

 vomica), is perhaps the most valuable of the tribe, furnishing an 

 alkaloid (strychnine) very poisonous, but of great use in medicine. 



SECTION CXV. APOCYNACEJE, OE DOGBANES. 



Characteristics : Corolla hypogynous, monopetalous, regular, 

 four or five partite ; contorted in aestivation ; stamens inserted 

 upon the corolla, in number equal to the lobes of the former ; 

 pollen granular ; ovary free, bi-carpelled ; fruit capsular, or 

 follicular, or fleshy ; seed dicotyledonous, straight, ordinarily 

 albuminous ; leaves opposite or verticillato ; juice milky. 



The name of this order, Apocynacece, is derived from the genus 

 Apocynwn, which word is derived from the Greek axo (ap'-o), 

 from, and KVUV (feu'-on), a dog, and moans the dog-killer, certain 

 species being dangerous to animals. The Apoajnacece are 



83 N.K. 



hya-hya or cow- tree of Demcrara, are wortay of mention among 

 the useful plants of this order, whose only representative in the 

 indigenous flora of Great Britain is the periwinkle (Tinea). 



Many species of the genus Cerbera, as well Asiatic as American, 

 possess narcotic acrid seeds, sometimes poisonous, but useful as a 

 remedy for the bites of serpents. The Cerbera Ahouat (Fig. 275) 

 secretes an exceedingly poisonous juice, which is employed in 

 Brazil for the purpose of stupefying fish. 



The poisonous tanghin (Tanghinia veneniflua, Fig. 276) is a 

 native of Madagascar, about thirty feet in height, yielding a 

 drupaceous fruit which contains an oily seed, and employed by the 

 natives judicially in the trial by poison. The accuser makes his 

 complaint to the judge, who refers it to an official denominate*! 

 the -4mj>ana)(i;/!tn, and whose office is the double one of priest 

 and executioner. If sufficient presumptive evidence of crime be 

 forthcoming, the tanghin is administered, and the guilt or 

 innocence of the accused is judged of by the result. If he re- 

 cover from the effects of the poison, he is proclaimed innocent j 

 if ho die, he is considered guilty, and his goods are forfeited. 



