EUPHORBIACE.SE. 



EMBLICA. 



Flowers monoecious. Calyx 6-parted. $ . Stamens 3, combined. 

 ? . Styles 3, dichotomous. Fruit fleshy, 3-coccous, 6-seeded. 

 A. de J. 



352. E. officinalis Gcertn. ii. 122. Phyllanthus Emblica 

 Linn. sp.pl. 1393. Myrobalanus Emblica Bauh.pin.4f45. Humph* 

 vii. p. 1. t. 1. (Nilicamaram Rheede i. t. 38.) Most parts 

 of India. 



Trunk generally crooked, when large as thick as a man's body. 

 Branches thinly scattered in every direction ; male branches spreading 

 and drooping. Bark ash-coloured, scabrous. Leaves alternate, spread- 

 ing, bifarious, pinnate, flower-bearing, 1-2 feet long, and about 1^-2 

 inches broad ; leaflets very numerous, alternate, linear-obtuse, entire, 

 smooth, about inches long, and broad; petioles striated, round. 

 Stipules small, withering. Flowers minute, greenish yellow. very 

 numerous in the axils of the lower leaflets, and round the common 

 petiole below the the leaflets, peduncled. Calyx 6-parted. Anthers 

 3-5 surrounding the upper part of a columnar filament. $ few, 

 solitary, sessile, mixed with some males in the most exterior axils that 

 bear flowers. Calyx as in the male. Disk cup-formed, embracing 

 half the ovary, border ragged. Ovary superior, ovate. Style scarcely 

 any. Stigmas 3, 2-cleft. Drupe fleshy, globular, smooth, 6-striated. 

 Nut obovate, obtusely triangular, 3-celled. Seeds 2 in each cell. 

 Bark used in India in diarrhoea. Fruit extremely acid and astringent ; 

 when dry a mild purgative. 



PHYLLANTHUS. 



Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Calyx 5-6-parted. $ . Sta- 

 mens 3, seldom more, united at base. $ . Styles 3, bifid. Cap- 

 sule 3-coccous, 6-seeded. A. de J. 



353. P. Niruri Linn, sp.pl 1392. Roxb.fi. ind. iii. 659. 

 Urinaria indica Burnt, zeyl. t. 93. A common weed in Indian 

 gardens and waste places. 



Root annual. Stem erect, from 1 to 2 feet high, round, smooth. 

 Branches numerous in large plants, the lower spreading to a consider- 

 able extent. Leaves scattered, spreading, pinnate, 1-3 inches long, 

 flower-bearing. Leaflets alternate, bifarious, nearly sessile, oval, 

 smooth ; about ^ [inch long, and broad. Stipules of the petiole 

 3-fold, forming a 3-toothed cup round their insertion, each tapering to a 

 fine point ; those of the leaflets similar, but 1 on each side. Flowers 

 axillary to the leaflets, generally 1-2 male, and 1 female, on short 

 stalks. $. Disk small, saucer-shaped, 6-toothed. Stamens, 1 short, 

 columnar filament and 3 pairs of anthers. $ . Calyx and disk as 

 in the male. Capsules smooth, umbilicated, opening with an elastic 

 jerk, 3-celled, 6-valved ; cells 2-seeded. Root bitter and astringent ; 

 when fresh employed successfully in Jaundice. Half an ounce rubbed 

 in milk and given night and morning completed a cure, according to 

 Dr. John, in a few days, without any sensible operation of the medicine. 

 Roxb. Root, leaves and young shoots deobstruent, diuretic and healing. 

 Leaves very bitter and a good stomachic. Ainslie. A decoction of the 



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