BEBEERU 



273 



OLIVERI CORTEX 

 (Oliver Bark, Black Sassafras) 



Source, &c. Oliver bark is the dried bark of Cinnamomum Oliveri, 

 Bailey (N.O. Laurinece), a tree indigenous to New South Wales and 

 Queensland. 



Description. Flat strips about 20 cm. long, 4 cm. wide and 1 cm. 

 thick ; outer surface brownish with patches of whitish cork, very 

 coarsely granular or warty ; inner surface umber brown, finely striated, 

 satiny. Fracture short, somewhat fibrous. Section exhibits a some- 

 what thick periderm, often separated from the 

 inner part of the secondary bast by a paler 

 line of cork cells. Odour aromatic, recalling 

 that of sassafras ; taste aromatic bitter and 

 camphoraceous. 



Constituents. The chief constituent is a 

 yellow, volatile oil containing safrol, eugenol, 

 cineol and cinnamic aldehyde ; the bark" also 

 contains tannin. 



. As a substitute for cinnamon. 



FIG. 136. Greenheart 

 bark, showing short 

 fracture. Natural size. 



BEBEERU BARK 



(Bibiru Bark, Greenheart Bark, 



Cortex Nectandrae) 



Source, &c. The greenheart tree, Nectandra 

 Rodicei, Hooker (N.O. Laurinece), is a large 

 forest tree growing abundantly on the hills 

 in British Guiana. Its tall, straight stem 

 yields a hard and resistant wood that is 

 highly valued for shipbuilding ; the bark was 

 recommended early in the present century as 

 a substitute for cinchona bark, and the alkaloid obtained from it 

 in 1835 by Rodie as a substitute for quinine. It aroused some 

 interest at first, but now neither the bark nor the alkaloid obtained 

 from it is much used. 



Description. Bebeeru bark occurs in flat, heavy pieces, frequently 

 10 to 15 cm. long, 5 to 8 cm. wide, and 3 to 10 mm. thick. It is of a 

 more or less uniform greyish brown colour, and frequently marked 

 on the outer surface with broad shallow depressions left by the exfolia- 

 tion of the outer portions by the formation of bands of cork ; these 

 exfoliating portions are occasionally but not often found adhering to 

 the bark. The outer layer is usually a very thin greyish brown, often 



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