470 



RUBIACE^E. II. UNCARIA. 



refers for a particular detail of the cultivation of the plant and 

 manufacture of gambier to the 2d volume of the Transactions 

 of the Batavian Society. Mr. Hunter (Lin. trans. 9. p. 220.) 

 says, that in Prince of VVales's Island the substance is pre- 

 pared by boiling the leaves for an hour and a half, adding more 

 water as the first wastes, till towards the end of the process, 

 when it is inspissated to the consistence of thin syrup, and 

 when taken" off the fire and allowed to cool it becomes solid. 

 It is then cut into little square pieces, which are dried in the 

 sun, turning them frequently. The gambier, prepared accord- 

 ing to this process, is of a brown colour ; but prepared in the 

 way described by Dr. Campbell above, it is perfectly white. In 

 medicine it is found beneficial in anguina and aphthae, as well as 

 diarrhoea and dysentery. The drug is infused in water, to which 

 it gives the colour of black tea. By the Malays it is mixed 

 with lime, and applied externally to cuts, burns, boils, &c. The 

 finest is alone selected to chew along with leaves of betel, 

 in the same manner as cutch or kut, the catechu in other parts 

 of India. The brown being strong tasted and rank is exported to 

 China and Batavia, to be used in dyeing and tanning. 



For the cultivation of the shrub a rich soil is preferred. It 

 gives the most luxuriant crop when the rains are frequent, but 

 does not thrive in grounds that are apt to be flooded. On this 

 account the side of a hill is esteemed better than any other 

 situation. The plants are propagated from seed ; and when they 

 are about 9 inches high they may be finally removed to the field, 

 and planted at distances of 8 or 9 feet. At the end of one year 

 from the time when they are planted in the field, a small crop 

 of leaves is obtained. A larger is got in eighteen months, 

 and the third at the end of two years, when the plants are at 

 their full growth. They continue in their prime, and admit of 

 being cut twice a-year, for the space of 20 or 30 years, pro- 

 vided care be taken to keep the ground clean, and the roots 

 free from weeds. Their tops must be cut to prevent them 

 growing to a greater height than 5 or 6 feet. It is said that 

 the young leaves produce the whitest substance. In Prince 

 of Wales's Island, gambier, if good, is sold for 8^ dollars per 

 pecul, while in the same island sago is sold for 3 dollars per 

 pecul ; hence the manufacturer is tempted to adulterate the 

 gambier with this article, which mixes intimately, but may be 

 easily detected by solution with water. 



Gambler. Clt. 1825. Shrub cl. 



2 U. A'CIDA (Roxb. fl. ind. 2. p. 129.) branches tetragonal, 

 smooth ; leaves ovate, acuminated, smooth on both surfaces ; 

 stipulas acuminated, twin on both sides ; peduncles axillary, 

 solitary, bearing each a single head of flowers, bracteolate in 

 the middle, but after flowering becoming recurved and spines- 

 cent. J? . ^. S. Native of the Island of Pulo-Penang, at 

 Soongey Clooan, ex Hunter; of Java, ex Blum, bijdr. 1011.; 

 also of the Moluccas, ex Rumph. Nauclea acida, Hunter, in 

 Lin. trans. 9. p. 223. Funis uncatus latifolius, Rumph. amb. 5. 

 p. 63. t. 34. f. 1. Nauclea longiflora, Poir. suppl. p. 63. 

 Cinchona Kattu-Kambar, Keen, in Retz. obs. 4. p. 6. to which it 

 is nearly allied. The leaves have an acid taste. 



Acid Uncaria. Shrub cl. 



3 U. SCLEROPHY'LLA (Roxb. fl. ind. 2. p. 130.) branches te- 

 tragonal, pubescent ; leaves elliptic, short-pointed, stiff, rugged 

 beneath ; stipulas lateral, lunate, 2-lobed ; peduncles axillary, 

 solitary, simple, jointed, bracteolate above the middle, bearing 

 each one head of flowers, after flowering becoming recurved 

 and spinescent. Tj . w . S. Native of Pulo-Penang, on the top 

 of the mountain called Soongey Clooan. Nauclea sclerophylla, 

 Hunter, in Lin. trans. 9. p. 223. Leaves pubescent beneath. 

 Bracteas 6 in a whorl, at the joint of the peduncle. Calyx pu- 

 bescent outside. Corolla villous on the outside. Flowers on 

 long pedicels. 



Hard-leaved Uncaria. Shrub cl. 



4 U. OVALIFO'LIA (Roxb. fl. ind. 2. p. 128.) leaves oval, pe- 

 tiolate, acute, smooth on both surfaces ; peduncles axillary and 

 terminal, compound ; receptacle of flowers as well as the cap- 

 sules villous. T? . w . S. Native of Pulo-Penang. Leaves 

 sometimes obovate, from 3-6 inches long. Peduncles bearing 

 from 1-3 heads of flowers, on pedicels which are as long as 

 the common peduncle, and furnished with a sheathing 4-6-cleft 

 bractea in the middle of each. Petioles short, recurved, chan- 

 nelled. 



Oval-leaved Uncaria. Shrub cl. 



5 U. PILOSA (Roxb. et Wall, in fl. ind. 2. p. 130.) branches, 

 villous, obscurely tetragonal ; leaves oval, acuminated, some- 

 times subcordate, hairy on both surfaces, on very short petioles ; 

 stipulas bipartite or twin : segments lanceolate, acute, longer 

 than the petioles ; peduncles axillary, opposite, villous, divari- 

 cate, at length recurved and spinescent. Tj . w . S. Native of 

 Nipaul, in the valley in the forest of Sankoo, and at Bheempedi ; 

 and of Chittagong and Java. Wall. pi. rar. asiat. 2. p. 55. 

 t. 170. Nauclea scandens, Smith, in Rees's cycl. vol. 24. 

 no. 9. Nauclea pilosa, Blum, bijdr. p. 1013.? Branches 

 clothed with rusty hairs ; young shoots silky. Leaves from 

 5-7 inches long. Peduncles jointed, and bear a whorl of about 

 6 small linear-lanceolate bracteas, which are hairy without and 

 smooth within. Flowers hairy, whitish, forming round dense 

 heads of 2 inches in diameter. In the Java plant there are 4-6 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, pilose, rather membranous brac- 

 teas in a whorl at the top of each peduncle, under the head of 

 flowers. Perhaps distinct from the plant of Roxburgh. 



Pilose Uncaria. Shrub cl. 



6 U. LANOSA (Wall, in Roxb. fl. ind. 2. p. 131.) every part 

 of the plant is clothed with long rust-coloured hairs ; leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, smooth above, on short petioles ; 

 stipulas twin, on both sides, ovate, membranous, recurved ; pe- 

 duncles axillary, opposite, short, at length converted into spinose 

 hooks ; corollas almost smooth ; capsules on long pedicels. ^ . 

 ,_,. S. Native of Pulo-Penang and Sumatra, and other East 

 Indian islands. Nauclea lanosa, Poir suppl. 4. p. 54. Nauclea 

 setigera, Blum, bijdr. 1013. . Branches rather quadrangular. 

 Leaves 3-4 inches long. Stipulas hairy without, permanent. 

 Peduncles about an inch long, surrounded by a whorl of 4 lan- 

 ceolate bracteas. Capsules smooth, ash-coloured. In the Java 

 plant, the branches are almost smooth, hardly hispid ; and the 

 upper surfaces of the leaves are glabrous, or scarcely hispid, but 

 villous beneath from long adpressed hairs ; fruit oblong, gla- 

 brous, shorter than the pedicels ; lobes of calyx oblong, ciliated. 



Woolly Uncaria. Shrub cl. 



7 U. L^VIGA'TA (Wall. cat. no. 6111.) branches quadran- 

 gular, smooth ; leaves ovate-elliptic, acuminated, smooth ; pe- 

 duncles axillary, solitary, opposite, divaricate, bracteolate above 

 the middle, some of which are converted into hooked spines. 

 I? . w . S. Native of the Burman empire at Amherst. Fruit 

 sessile. 



Smooth Uncaria. Shrub cl. 



8 U. MACROPHY'LLA (Wall, in Roxb. fl. ind. 2. p. 132.) 

 branches tetragonal, pubescent, with 2 opposite furrows ; leaves 

 petiolate, broad-ovate, acuminated, smooth and shining above, 

 villous beneath, coarsely nerved and reticulated ; stipulas cadu- 

 cous ; heads of flowers axillary, solitary, opposite, tomentose. 



^ . w . S. Native of the East Indies, from Silhet. Leaves from 

 6-7 inches long. Peduncles opposite, axillary, and terminal, 2 

 inches long, covered with rusty hairs, about 5 lines under the 

 apex they are jointed and surrounded by a ring of 5-6 lanceo- 

 late, spreading, villous bracteas. Flowers covered with ash- 

 coloured dense pubescence. 



Long-leaved Uncaria. Shrub cl. 



