MENISPERMACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 214. 



COCCULUS. 



Flowers unisexual, (always ?) dioecious. Calyx of 12 sepals 

 in 4 series, with 2, 3, or more close-pressed bracteoles. $ . Sta- 

 mens 6, or rarely 3, opposite to the inner sepals, distinct : an- 

 thers 2-celled, terminal, dehiscing vertically : filaments either 

 filiform with the anther, cells horizontal, approximate, and each 

 externally 2-lobed, or thickened at the apex with the cells di- 

 varicating downwards, and separated by the connective. ? . 

 Ovaries 3, 6, or numerous. Drupes 1-6, or numerous, 1 -celled, 

 1 -seeded. Peduncles axillary or rarely lateral ; males usually 

 many-flowered ; females generally few-flowered, without brae- 

 teas, or with very small ones if present. W. and A. chiefly. 



759. C. Bakis Guillem. and Perrot. fl. Seneg. i. 12. t. 4. 

 Sides of woods and in hedges, on sandy hills in the kingdom of 

 Cay or, and near Lamsar in the kingdom of Walo, in Senegal. 



Root fleshy, fusiform, simple. Stem twining, smooth. Leaves long- 

 stalked, cordate, roundish-ovate, acute, very smooth, with palmate veins. 

 Racemes axillary or terminal, cylindrical, many-flowered ; the females 

 always axillary and longer than the petiole. Fruit drupaceous, fleshy, 

 the size of a pea. Root diuretic and very bitter. It is used success- 

 fully by the Negroes, in the form of decoction, in the treatment of the 

 intermittents so frequent in Senegal ; and also to stop urethral dis- 

 charges. 



760. C. Fibraurea DC. syst. i. 525. Fibraurea tinctoria Lour, 

 fl. cock. 769. Woods of Cochin-china and China. 



Stem long, thick, climbing, consisting of soft yellow fibres. Leaves 

 ovate at the base, acute, entire, smooth, unequally nerved and veined ; 

 petioles long, slender, turgid at the base. Flowers white, very small. 

 Fruit small, yellow. Taste bitter; root diuretic. Used by the Malays 

 in intermittent fevers and liver complaints. 



761. C. cinerascens Aug. de St. Hil. fl. bras. i. 59. Woods 

 near Rio Janeiro. (Butua.) 



Stem climbing, striated, downy. Leaves 4-5 inches long, and about 

 3 broad, ovate, cordate at the base, rather acute, mucronulate, some- 

 times very obtusely 2-5-lobed, crenated, smooth above, downy and 

 ash-coloured underneath ; the midrib on the under side prominent and 

 rufous, with about 3 or 4 ribs on each side ; petioles about an inch long. 

 One of the most celebrated of Brazilian remedies for fevers and 

 liver complaints. 

 367 



