62 



FLOWERS 



Constituents. The colour of the petals is due, in part at least, to 

 mekocyanin, probably present in combination with an acid (see p. 65). 

 The presence of meconic acid, an important constituent of opium, 

 has not yet been definitely ascertained. In the juice of the capsules 

 and herb Hesse found the alkaloid rhceadine, which is also contained 

 in opium ; and it is worth noting that this alkaloid, when decomposed 

 with hydrochloric acid, yields a red colouring matter of intense colorific 

 power. Dieterich (1888) reported the drug to contain 0-1 to 0-7 

 per cent, of morphine, but according to Hesse and others it is quite 

 free from morphine, Dieterich's alkaloid being rhceadine. 



The petals of the P. dubium contain a toxic alkaloid, aporeine, 



resembling thebaine in its 

 action, and they should 

 therefore be rejected. 



Use. Red poppy petals are 

 employed solely as a colouring 

 agent, chiefly in the form of 

 syrup. 



KOUSSO 



(Cusso; Cousso) 



Source, &c. The tree yield- 

 ing this drug, Bray era an- 

 thelmintica, K u n t h (N.O. 

 (Planchon Eosacece) , is a native of north- 



eastern Africa. It is culti- 

 vated in Abyssinia, being 



commonly planted by the natives near their villages, and is in 

 general use as a remedy for intestinal worms, from which they suffer 

 severely. Bruce became acquainted with it in the course of his 

 travels through Africa (about 1770). 



The panicles of pistillate flowers are collected after fertilisation 

 and dried. They are usually packed into cylindrical rolls (hanks) 

 about 30 to 60 cm. in length and 5 to 8 cm. in diameter, bound round 

 with a flexible monocotyledonous stem. The staminate inflorescences, 

 which are sometimes borne on the same, sometimes on different 

 trees, are also collected and the flowers stripped from them, but they 

 are comparatively valueless and are not official. 



Description. The panicles attain as much as 60 cm. in length, and 

 are of a decided, though dull, reddish or mauve colour (red kousso). 

 The main axis is stout, covered with shaggy brown hairs, and branches 

 repeatedly, forming a sympodial branch system. The branches 

 spring from the axils of large bracts, and are more or less thickly 

 covered with similar hairs and also with minute glands, the latter 



FIG. 36. Red Poppy, 

 and Collin.) 





