ZYGOPHYLLE.E. VII. GUAIACUM. VIII. PORLIERIA. IX. CHITONIA. 



773 



Doubtful Lignurfi-vitae. Tree. 



2 G. OFFICINA'LE (Lin. spec. 546.) leaves with 2 pairs of ob- 

 ovate or oval, blunt leaflets ; peduncles twin ; fruit 2-celled. 

 I? . S. Native of Jamaica and St. Domingo, in low lands. 

 Woodv. med. bot. 43. t. 16. Pluk. aim. 180. t. 35. f. 3. 

 Sloan, jam. 2. p. 133. t. 222. f. 3-6. Seb. thes. 1. p. 86. t. 53. 

 f. 2 Blackw. t. 350. f. 1-2. Lam. ill. t. 342. Flowers blue. 

 Capsules often 2-angled. A tree about 30 feet high, and near a 

 foot in the diameter of its trunk, with a very smooth bark, varie- 

 gated with green and white ; the wood hard and ponderous, 

 dark olive-brown within, whitish towards the bark, having a 

 peculiar acid aromatic scent, and well known in England by the 

 name of Brazil-wood or Lignum-mlae. The wood and bark 

 were celebrated remedies for syphilitic complaints before mer- 

 cury came into use. The wood was first used in Spain in 1508 for 

 the cure of syphilis, under the title of Santo-Legno. In 1517 in 

 Italy, and 1518 in Germany. It is found in the shops only 

 in a state of raspings or shavings, which are of a yellowish colour, 

 but acquire a bluish-green colour on exposure to the fumes of 

 nitrous acid, which is a characteristic of their being genuine. 

 Its taste is bitterish, and when kindled it gives out a bitterish 

 smell. As guaiac is used only in decoction, its virtue* must 

 depend upon principles soluble in water. The resin exudes 

 spontaneously in drops, but is principally obtained by sawing the 

 wood into short billets, and bored longitudinally with an auger, 

 one end is then set on a fire, so that a calabash may receive the 

 melted resin as it runs through the holes so bored. It may also 

 be obtained by boiling the chips or raspings in water. The 

 resin swims, and may be skimmed off. This resin is soluble in 

 a moderate heat, but is not softened by the heat of the fingers ; 

 it is brownish externally, and the fracture bluish-green, when 

 swallowed causing an insufferable burning and pricking in the 

 throat. It is sometimes adulterated with common resin, but the 

 fraud is easily detected by the smell of turpentine emitted when 

 thrown on live coals. Guaiac taken internally commonly excites 

 a sense of warmth in the stomach, a dryness of the mouth, with 

 thirst ; it increases the heat of the body, and quickens the cir- 

 culation. If the patient be kept warm, it produces diaphoresis ; 

 if exposed freely to the air, an increased flow of urine. In large 

 doses it is purgative. 



Officinal or Common Lignum-vitae, or Guaiacum. Fl. July, 

 Sept. Clt. 1694. Tree SO feet. 



3 G. BRE'YNII (Spreng. syst. 2. p. 322.) leaves with 2 or 3 

 pairs of unequal leaflets, extreme ones oblong-elliptical, unequal- 

 sided, middle pair obovate, lower ones roundish ; peduncles um- 

 bellate. Tj . S. Native of South America, at the river Magda- 

 lena. Flowers blue. 



Breynius's Lignum-vitae. Tree 20 feet. 



4 G. VERTICA LE (Ort. dec. 8. p. 93.) leaves with 3 or 6 pairs, 

 but usually 5 pairs of oblong, coriaceous, mucronate leaflets, 

 outer ones obovate, and are, as well as the branches, very smooth. 

 T; . S. Native of New Spain and St. Domingo. Pedicels usually 

 twin. Flowers blue, with vertical petals. 



FerticaZ-petalled Lignum-vitae. Clt. 1820. Shrub 8 feet. 



5 G. SA NCTUM (Lin. spec. 546.) leaves with 5 or 7 pairs of 

 oval, blunt, mucronulated leaflets : petioles and branchlets some- 

 what pubescent ; pedicels twin ; petals fringed ; capsule 5-celled. 

 T; . S. Native of South America, particularly in the island of 

 St. Domingo, New Spain, and Brazil. Comm. hort. amst. 1. 

 p. 171. t. 88. Hern. mex. 63. Pluk. phyt. t. 94. f. 4. A 

 middle-sized knotty tree, whose wood, according to Hernandez, 

 is internally blue. Flowers beautiful blue. It is called in some 

 of the West India Islands Bastard Lignum-vittz. The wood of 

 this species was first introduced as a cure for the venereal disease 

 by the Spaniards, and being carried to the East Indies fetched 

 there an extravagant price, till it became more plentiful. 



Holy Lignum-vitae. Tree 20 feet. 



6 G. ARBOREUM (D. C. prod. 1. p. 707.) leaves with 7-14 

 pairs of oval-oblong, blunt leaflets, which are unequal at the base, 

 and are usually alternate ; petioles and branchlets somewhat pu- 

 bescent. Tj . S. Native of Carthagena, Guadeloupe, and near 

 Barcelona of Cumana, in woods. H. B.et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 

 6. p. 11. Zygophyllum arboreum, Jacq. amer. 130. t. 83. pict. 

 35. t. 124. Racemes loose. Petals unguiculate, orange-co- 

 loured. Stamens with short appendages at their base. Capsules 

 stipitate, 5-winged. This is a large tree, terminating in a beau- 

 tiful head, with very hard wood, and is called by the natives of 

 Cumana Guaiacum, but they give this name to all hard woods. 

 They have a notion that if it be buried in the ground it will be 

 converted into stone. 



Tree Lignum-vitae. Fl. July. Clt. 1816. Tree 40 feet. 



Cull. These trees will grow well in a mixture of loam and 

 peat, and ripened cuttings taken off at a joint will strike root, 

 if planted thinly in a pot of sand, under a hand-glass in heat, 

 but care should be taken when these have rooted not to break 

 the fibres in potting them off, as they are truly brittle. 



VIII. PORLIE'RIA (in honour of Anthony de Porlier de 

 Baxamar, a Spanish promoter of botany). Ruiz et Pav. prod, 

 fl. per. p. 55. t. 9. D. C. prod. 1. p. 707. Andr. Juss. in mem. 

 mus. 12. p. 457. t. 16. no. 6. 



LIN. SYST. Octandria, Monogynia. Calyx deeply 4-parted. 

 Petals 4, somewhat unguiculate, connivent. Stamens 8 ; fila- 

 ments scaly at the base. Ovary seated on a short gynophore, 

 4-furrowed, 4-celled. Fruit fleshy, globose, 4-lobed, 4-celled, 

 nevertheless they are of 4 distinct carpels, with a solitary seed 

 in each cell, which is egg-shaped, smooth, and pendulous. Em- 

 bryo rather arched. A shrub with spreading stiff branches and 

 abruptly pinnate leaves, with twin spiny stipulas at their base. 

 Peduncles axillary, 1 -flowered in fascicles. An intermediate 

 genus between Guaiacum and Larrea. 



1 P. HYGROME'TRICA (Ruiz et Pav. syst. fl. per. p. 94.). 

 Tj . G. Native of Peru. Leaves with 7 or 8 pairs of linear 

 leaflets, these remain spread open in serene weather, but con- 

 tract before rain. This shrub possesses the same virtues as 

 those attributed to Guaiacum, which see. 



Hygrometric Porlieria. Clt. 1823. Shrub 6 feet. 



Cult. This shrub will thrive well in a mixture of loam and 

 peat ; and ripened cuttings will strike root if planted thinly in 

 a pot of sand and placed under a hand-glass, in a moderate heat. 



2. Zygophyllece spurice. D. C. prod. 1. p. 707. Andr. 

 Juss. mem. mus. 12. p. 458. Leaves alternate. 



IX. CHITO'NIA (from -^iriav, chiton, an outer covering ; 

 the seeds are covered with aril). Moc. et Sesse, fl. mex. ined. 

 icon. D. C. prod. 1. p. 707. Andr. Juss. in mem. mus. 12. 

 p. 518. 



LIN. SYST. Oct&ndria, Monogynia. Calyx 4-parted, deci- 

 duous. Petals 4, connivent, orbicular. Stamens 8. Ovary 

 quadrangular. Style 1 . Stigma peltate, hemispherical. Cap- 

 sule 4-celled, 4-valved ; valves keeled, winged, therefore the 

 capsule is 4-winged. Seeds 2 in each cell, truncate at the apex, 

 enclosed in fleshy aril. Leaves alternate, and probably stipu- 

 laceous, impari-pinnate, with 6 pairs of ovate, stalked leaflets. 

 Pedicels twin, 1 -flowered. 



1 C. MEXICA'NA (Moc. et Sesse, fl. mex. icon. ined. D. C. 

 prod. 1. p. 707.). +1 . S. Native of Mexico. Flowers large, 

 of a rose-purple colour. Seeds black, covered with red aril. 



Mexican Chitonia. Tree or shrub. 



Cult. This plant will probably grow well in a mixture of 



