BITTER OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 51 



reputation. A. sij^ho, a native of North America, is quite hardy 

 in this country. It is a strong-growing climber, and is curious 

 for its bent, syphon-like flowers. A. clcmatitis is a perennial, 

 native of this country, but rare. 



Bish, an Indian poison. {See Aconite.) 



Bitter Cup. {See Quassia.) 



Bitter Oil, a name in India for an oil obtained from the 

 fruit of Calophyllum inophyllum, a tree of the Gamboge family 

 (Guttiferse) common in the tropical countries of Asia, including 

 the islands of the Pacific, and being a tree of economical im- 

 portance it consequently has many local names. It sometimes 

 attains the height of 80 to 100 feet, and 12 feet in girth. 

 In the Fiji and other islands it is a coast tree, its round fruits, 

 with the square fruits of Barringtonia, the cone-like fruits of 

 the sago-palm, and the large seeds of E7itada, are found cover- 

 ing the sandy beaches. The fruit is the size of a walnut, and 

 when ripe, of a reddish colour ; it has a fleshy rind containing 

 a hard-shelled seed enclosing an oily kernel from which the 

 oil is expressed, which is of a green colour, and is highly valued 

 by the natives for medical purposes in the countries where it is 

 produced. In Fiji it is called Dilo, and is used by the natives 

 as a substitute for cocoa-nut oil for anointing their bodies. In 

 Tahiti and other islands it is called Tamanu. A gum-resin 

 exudes from the bark of the tree, which is one of the kinds of 

 tacamahaca gums of commerce. The wood is firm and hard, 

 and is used for shipbuilding, making canoes, and other purposes. 



Bitter -root, Californian, also called Bigroot {Ecliinocystis 

 fabacea), and by some called Megarrhiza californica, a genus of 

 the Gourd family (Cucurbitacese). U. fcibacca has a fleshy, glo- 

 bose tuberous root, which varies in size according to age, some 

 weighing 50 lbs.; from the centre rise several slender straggling 

 stems of a whitish colour, ultimately producing leaves and 

 tendrils ; fruit globose, spiny, the size of an orange or apple, the 

 root is intensely bitter, and is held in high repute, especially 

 for dyspepsia and numerous other diseases. 



Bitter -root, Canadian (Leivisia rcdiviva), a remarkable 



