176 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



owe their peculiar delicate aroma. They have also been supposed 

 to owe this to other species of Mcujnolia, and, as we shall see, to 

 Lirio(h'fi(Iro)t Titlipifcra. Aroinadendron elegans Bl., also belongs to this 

 section. Blume' has told us of the great reputation this species enjoys 

 in Java. It is a magnificent ornamental plant, whose wood is used 

 for industrial purposes, and whose bark, flowers, fruit, and seeds are 

 considered stomachic, carminative, and antispasmodic, and are pre- 

 scribed against colic and other intestinal affections ; the flowers 

 liave an exquisite perfume. 



Mcnif/lidia fflaifca Bl.," which is, as we have said, only a Magnolia 

 with many-seeded carpels, has exactly the same bitter aromatic 

 properties. Moreover, its wood, whitish and tough, is in Java sup- 

 posed to prevent the decomposition of the dead, and is therefore 

 used for the coffins of the wealthier classes. Its foliage and large 

 yellowish flow^ers also make it a very ornamental plant. 



Of the section Michelia, the species most used is M. Champaca L.,^ 

 a very fine tree, cultivated in all gardens in tropical Asia for the 

 sake of its beautiful, sweet-scented flowers. The Hindoos have made 

 it a sacred plant, and it pla3^s a certain part in their civil and re- 

 ligious ceremonies. It was formerly used in Java to deck the temple 

 and the nuptial chamber. The essential oil extracted from flowers, 

 said to be as much esteemed as the essence of roses, affects the head, 

 and may, we are told, induce giddiness. The wood is used in building 

 and for domestic furniture. The bark is considered a tonic, stimulant, 

 diaphoretic, diuretic, and febrifuge. The leaf-buds bear an odo- 

 riferous resin, much lauded in gonorrhoea. The leaves mixed with 

 those of the aromatic Amomea are used for anti-arthritic powders ; 

 their decoction is used in lotions, in astringent gargles, and in baths 

 for rheumatism. The fruit is used in abdominal complaints. The 

 acrid bitter seeds are prescribed as a febrifuge. The root is a 

 stimulant and emmenagogue. There is, in short, no part of this 

 plant that is not considered useful." Other species of the same group, 



' Fl.Jac.Magnoliac.,2Q,i.\\\.,\\\\. — H. Bn., an action, that not only is it an emmenagogue. 



Diet. E)icycl. des Sc. Medic, vi. 161. but that an overdose may induce abortion. Gargles 



* Op. cit., 22, t. vi. prepared from it are used in foetid breath and 

 ' Spec, "liiCi. — Lamk., Illusir., t. 493. — DC, asthenic anginas. The seeds are used in powder 



Syst. Vep., i. 1-17 ; Prodr., i. 79, n. 1. to rub in on the chest of fever patients, especially 



* The smell of the fresh flowers is perfumed, children (Endl., Encliir., 429). Loukeieo {Fl. 

 but that of the dry corollas is disagreeable. The Cochinch., 1790, 347) also speaks of this plant as 

 Malays wear wreaths of these flowers after cultivated under the name of Hoa su nam : 

 bathing, and mix them with their cosmetics. It " Ctilia oh odorem floris citju-t rekemeniia et 

 is said that the powdered bark his so stimulating constantia major est quam snavitas.' 



