VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 255 



article of commerce. The wood is dark colored and the bark 

 white. It has very large leaves, and there are two varieties ; 

 one with red and the other with white flowers. The drug 

 consists of the rough, thick bark, rolled into large, tight 

 cylinders, from seven to nine inches long, and very thick. 

 The outer surface is of a greyish-brown color, rougliened with 

 tubercles and marked with lichenous growths. The inner 

 surface is smooth and of a reddish-brown color. In the coast 

 provinces there seems to be some confusion in regard to the 

 drug ; an inferior product, which is probably the bark of a 

 different tree, appearing in commerce (see Customs Lists, 1040). 

 There is some confusion of Chinese terms between this and 

 Celtis siitetisis. The taste of the true bark is aromatic and 

 bitter, but some of the drug found in the shops is almost taste- 

 less, and is probably inert. Its medicinal properties are deob- 

 struent, tonic, stomachic, quieting, and anthelmintic. It is 

 prescribed in diarrhoeas, flatulence, amenorrhoea, pyrosis, and 

 a variety of dissimilar difficulties. The fruit is said to be 

 called 5^ 1^ (Chu-che), but whether it is the fruit of this or 

 of Eucommia tdvioides^ the Pentsao is not quite certain. It 

 cures ulcers, brightens the eyes, and benefits the breath. A 

 foot-note to this article in the Pentsao speaks of J^ jt^ ^ ^ 

 (Fou-lan-lo-le), which in Japan is a variety of Magnolia 

 hypoleuca. It comes from Samarcand, and is used as a deob- 

 struent and tonic remedy. 



MAGNOLIA OBOVATA.— :?fC % (Mu-lan). This tree is 

 indigenous to China, being found in the mountainous districts 

 of Szechuan, Hunan, and Shantung. It is a large tree, grow- 

 ing to the height of fifty or sixty feet. The wood is a useful 

 building material, being fine grained, and having a yellow 

 heart. Because of this last named fact, it is sometimes called 

 ^ *& (Huang-hsin), " yellow heart." Its flowers resemble 

 those of the lotus, and for this reason it takes the name tJc j^ ^ 

 (Mu-lien-hua). The flowers are red, yellow, and white. The 

 tree receives its principal name from the odor of its flowers, 

 which resembles that of the orchid (1^, Lan). The bark is 

 considered to be deobstruent, constructive, diuretic, and tonic, 

 and it is prescribed in fevers, sudamina, dropsy, mental 



