VII. MENISPERME^. 199 



The bark of Anonacecc is usually more or less aromatic and stimulating; in some species the taste is 

 acrid and almost nauseous ; the leaves possess similar but less powerful properties, the fruits are aromatic 

 and hot (Xylopid), or nearly inodorous, and these alone are eatable. The Malayans use the bark of 

 several Anonace<z, reduced to pulp, for bruises and rheumatic pains, and the fruit of others as a stomachic. 

 With the flowers of Uvaria odorata, and with other aromatics and Curcuma root, thev prepare an ointment 

 with which they anoint themselves, to ward off fever in the rainy season. European women in 

 India, it is said, macerate these scented flowers in eocoa-nut oil, as a hair oil. The root of Polyalthia 

 macropliylla is strongly aromatic, and the Javanese mountaineers use an infusion of it in eruptive fevers ; 

 they also use the fruits of P. subcordata to allay nervous colics. Artabotrys suaveolena grows in nearly 

 all the islands of the Malay Archipelago; from its infused leaves is prepared an aromatic medicine, 

 which is very efficacious in inducing reaction during the cold stage of cholera. The aromatic fruit of 

 Xylopia grandiftora furnishes the Brazilians with a condiment and a stimulating drug ; that of X. fmtescens, 

 a shrub found throughout tropical America, is used as pepper by the negros ; that of X. longifolia, which 

 grows on the shores of the Orinoco, is reckoned one of the best substitutes for quinine. X. tethiopica 

 furnished the ancients with Ethiopian pepper, before black pepper was introduced from India. The 

 Asimmas of North America are remarkable for their nauseous odour ; the leaves of A. triloba are used to 

 hasten the ripening of abscesses ; its berries are eatable, but its seeds are emetic. Many species of Anona 

 produce agreeable fruits, much esteemed in the tropics, as the Peruvian Cherimoya (Anona Cherimolia), 

 the Sweet Sop (A. sgwrtmoaa), and the Custard-Apple (A. muricata). The West Indian A. reticulata has a 

 mucilaginous, astringent, disagreeably tasted fruit, and is employed as an anti-dysenteric and vermifuge. 

 All these are natives of America, whence they have been transported by man to the Old World. 



VII. MENISPERME^E. 



(MENISPERMA, Jusrieu. MENISPERMOIDE^E, Ventenat. MENISPERME^E, D.C.) 



FLOWERS dioecious. SEPALS usually 6, free, 2-seriate, imbricate* PETALS hypo- 

 gynous, usually 6, imbricate, 2-seriate. STAMENS inserted on the receptacle, equal and 

 opposite to the petals, rarely more or fewer, sterile or in the $ flowers. CARPELS 

 usually 3, rarely oo, distinct, \-ovuled, rudimentary or in the $ flowers. DRUPES 

 with the stylary scar often basal. SEEDS albuminous or not. EMBRYO usually curved ; 

 radicle facing the stylary scar. STEM usually woody, climbing or twining. LEAVES 

 alternate, exstipulate. 



STEM climbing ; branchlets finely striate, sometimes twining, woody, or suffru- 

 ticose, rarely herbaceous and springing from a woody rhizome (Cissampelos) . LEAVES 

 alternate, exstipulate, usually palminerved, entire or palmilobed or peltate, rarely 

 compound (Burasaia) , petiole spuriously jointed at the base, and sometimes at the 

 top. FLOWERS dioecious, small, in a panicle, raceme or cyme, rarely solitary, some- 

 times accompanied by cordate bracts (Cissampelos). SEPALS usually 6, 2-seriate, 

 sometimes 9 3-seriate or 12 4-seriate, rarely 4 (Cissampelos), sometimes 4 or 8 

 (Menispermum) , very rarely 5 (Sarcopetalum) , usually distinct, very rarely coherent 

 (Synclisia, Cyclea). PETALS usually '6, 2-seriate, imbricate, but equal and simulating 

 a single series, smaller than the inner sepals, rarely 4 or 8 (Cyclea), very rarely 1, 3, 

 or 5 (Stephania), or 2 (Cissampelos), or (Anamirta, Abuta, &c.), very rarely united 

 (Cissampelos). STAMENS as many as petals, usually 6, opposite to the petals, very 

 rarely 3 (Triclisia, &c.), or 4-8 (Cyclea), or 9 (Limacia, &c.), or oo (Menispermum) ; 



