RHAMNEJE. 209 



Flowers, from abortion, frequently polygamous. Named, after 

 Antoine Gouan, Professor of Botany at Montpelier, in the 18th 

 century. 



I. Gouania Domingensis. Chaw-stick. 



Leaves ovate subcordate acuminate crenato-serrated 

 subglabrous. 



Radix fruticosa lutea, glycyrrhizae similis, dentibus mtindifi- 

 candis inserviens, Sloane, II. 185. t. 232. f. 2. 3. Gouania gla- 

 bra, Jacq. Am. t. 179. f. 40. G. Domingensis, Sioartz, Obs. 387. 



HAB. Common. 



FL. August October. 



A scandent shrub : branches anguloso-striated, pubescent, 

 trailing over neighbouring shrubs, supported by means of ten- 

 drils produced at the extremities of the lateral branchlets. 

 Leaves alternate, ovate, subcordate, acuminate, crenato-serrated, 

 parallelly and diagonally nerved, minutely ciliated and pu- 

 berulous, membranaceous : petiole sub-3-gonal. Stipules lan- 

 ceolato-attenuated, marescent, deciduous. Racemes axillary, 

 (or rather at the end of a short axillary leafy branchlet), sim- 

 ple, many-flowered : peduncle 2-2^ inches long, terete, pu- 

 berulous : flowers small, yellowish, shortly pedicelled, in clus- 

 ters. Calyx 5-partite, externally puberulous ; divisions ovate, 

 acute. Petals 5, alternate with and of the same length as the 

 divisions of the calyx, and inserted about its middle, spathulate, 

 concave and hooded at the apex. Stamens 10, inserted with 

 the petals ; 5 of them barren, opposite to and much shorter than 

 the divisions of the calyx, minute (so as only to be detected by 

 the microscope), bifid at the apex : 5 of them fertile, opposite 

 to and nidulant in the hood of the petals ; filaments short ; an- 

 thers roundish. Ovary subrotund : style, in the fertile flower, 

 3-partite : stigmata simple. Capsule at first subrotund, trigo- 

 nal, crowned with the calyx ; afterwards 3-winged, with the 

 wings thick, obtuse : seeds oblong, black. 



The peculiarity above noticed of the stamens, appears to have 

 escaped former observers, and the character of the genus would 

 in consequence require to be remodelled. The sterile stamens 

 are very minute, and require the aid of a microscope to detect 

 them. 



This is a very agreeable bitter. It is used as a substitute 

 for hops in the ginger-beer, and what are called the cool drinks 

 of the country. The infusion has been employed in gonorrhsea 

 and dropsy, and as a light grateful bitter, in cases of debility, 

 to restore the tone of the stomach. In powder, it forms 

 an excellent dentifrice ; its aromatic bitter producing a healthy 

 state of the gums, and the mucilage it contains working up by 

 the brush into a kind of soap-like froth. A tincture also is pre- 

 pared from it, and much recommended, diluted with water, as 



VOL. i. p 



