66 FLOWERS 



U ses . -The petals are slightly astringent ; they are chiefly used 

 medicinally, in the form of acid infusion, as an agreeable astringent 

 vehicle or as a colouring agent. 



Allied Drugs. Rosa centifolia, Linne, largely cultivated as a 

 garden plant, has pale red or pink petals formerly official for the 

 production of rose water. 



Rosa damascena, Linne, largely cultivated in European Turkey, 

 Bulgaria, the south of France, &c., yields otto of rose and is the 

 rose from which rose water is officially' prepared. 



CLOVES 



(Caryophylla) 



Source, &C. The clove tree, Eugenia caryophyllata, Thunberg 

 (N.O. Myrtacece), is a handsome evergreen tree and a native of the 

 Molucca Islands, where, as well as on the neighbouring islands, it was 

 formerly extensively cultivated. 



Although the spice was known in China about 220 B.C. and in 

 Europe in the fourth century, the Clove Islands were not discovered 

 till 1504. They passed into the hands of the Portuguese and then 

 into those of the Dutch, who unsuccessfully attempted to monopolise 

 the trade in cloves and confine the tree to the Moluccas. The French 

 succeeded in introducing the plant into Mauritius and Reunion, 

 whence it was brought to Cayenne and to Zanzibar. On the latter- 

 island and its neighbour, Pemba, the clove tree is now extensively 

 cultivated, and these two islands furnish the bulk of the world's 

 supply, the remainder being obtained from Penang, Amboyna, 

 Madagascar, &c. 



The inflorescence of the plant is a compound raceme, on the ultimate 

 ramifications of which the flowers are borne. When quite young the 

 buds are white ; as they develop the lower portion assumes a green 

 and finally a crimson colour. The buds are then collected, before 

 the white corolla expands, and dried in the sun, during which the 

 crimson colour changes to a dark reddish brown. Sometimes the 

 whole inflorescence is collected, or sometimes the buds are knocked 

 off with bamboos. The buds are finally separated from peduncles, 

 which are exported separately under the name of ' clove stalks.' 

 The ripe fruits are also occasionally collected ; they are known in 

 commerce as ' mother cloves " (anthophylli). 



Description. The cloves of commerce are therefore the dried 

 flower-buds of the tree. Each of them consists of a nearly cylindrical, 

 dark reddish- brown portion, slightly tapering at the base, which is 

 sometimes regarded as a gynophore, sometimes as a fleshy calyx- 



