VIOLACEÆ. 351 
There are five constant characters in this family: the quinary 
floral type ; the presence of free petals covering each other in præ- 
floration ; the number of fertile stamens equal to the petals, with 
which they alternate; the parietal placentation and fleshy albumen 
of the seeds. Several features of organization, although not con- 
stant, are only wanting in a very few cases: these are the alternation 
of the leaves,’ the presence of stipules,’ the indefinite number of 
ovules,* the consistence of the capsule.‘ The other characters vary in 
the different genera, which they serve to distinguish from each other. 
The properties’ of the plants of this family are tolerably homo- 
geneous. Their roots are emetic to a slight degree in the European 
species, and decidedly so in those of South America, so that they 
have been employed as a false Ipecacuanha. The most celebrated in 
this respect is the plant giving the false Ipecacuanha of Brazil and 
Guiana, a drug much used’ in its native country for the same pur- 
poses as the true Ipecacuanha, for which it is often substituted ; the 
species should certainly take the name of /Hydanthus Ipecacuanha 
The root of Cuichunchilli or Cuchunchully of Peru, another powerful 
emetic, belongs to a second species of the same genus, 77. micro- 
phyllus® 
HH. scandens, Poaya,® Maytensillo™ lanatus," brevicaulis, 
? ? 4 ? ? 

1 Opposite in some species of Rinorea and 
Hybanthus. | 
? Hymenanthera is destitute of it. 
3 There are one or two on each placenta in 
some Rinoreas, 
4 It is more or less fleshy in Leonia, and 
several species of Rinorea. 
5 Enpu., Enchirid.,471.—LinDt., Veg. Kingd., 
339 ; Fl. Med., 97.—Gur8., Drog. Simpl., éd. 6, 
iii, 662,—RosentuH., Syn. Pl. Diaphor., 658. 
5 Evacuant, emetic, purgative, antidysenteric ; 
it contains ementine. 
7 Viola Ipecacuanha L., Mantiss., 484; Diss. 
de Viol. Spec., 1; Mat, Med., 484,—V, Itubu 
AUBL., Guian,, 11. 808, t. 318.—? V. diandra 
L., Syst. Veg., 669.—Pombalia Ipecacuanha 
VANDELL., Fasc., 7, t. 1—P. Itubu GInG., in 
DC., Prod., i. 307, n. 1. — Lonidium Itubu 
H. B. K., Nov. Gen. et Spec., v. t. 496.—T. 
Itouboa VENT., ex GUIB., op. cit., iii. 99, fig. 589. 
—I, Ipecacuanha A. S. H., Pl. Us. Bras. n. 
11; Pl. Rem., 307.— Bot. Mag., t. 2453.— 
Linpu., Fl. Med., 98.—Gurs., loc. cit., 97.— 
RosenrTH., op, cit., 660.—PEREIRA, Elem, Mat. 
Med., ed. 4, ii. p. ii. 575. (Vulg. Poaya branca, 
P. da Praja, Brés,; Ipekaka, Guiana). If the 
synonym of V, diandra is correct, this specific 
name should be rejected on account of the real 
number of the stamens. V. Calceolaria Li. 
(Lonidium Calceolaria VENT.) probably belongs to 
the same species, which presents numerous varieties. 
8 Tonidium microphyllum H. B. K., Nov. 
Gen, et Spec., v. 374, t. 425.—DC., Prodr., i. 
310, n. 21.—Linpt., Fl. Med., 98.—Bancr., 
in Comp. to Bot. Mag., i. 278. In Trop. Ame- 
rica this drug, in addition to its evacuant pro- 
perties, is said to cure obstinate cutaneous affec- 
tions, especially the elephantiasis of Quito, named 
by the Spaniards Malo de San Lazaro. 
9 Jacq. (ex ROSENTH., op. cit., 660).— Viola 
Hybanthus W.—LIonidium Hybanthus Ven, 
(vulg. Ipecacuanha, Pira-aia). 
10 Tonidium Poaya A. S. H., Pl. Us. Bras. 
t.9; Pl. Rem., 308 (vulg. Poaya do campo). 
Is used as ipecacuanha in the Minas province. 
D Tonidium Maytensillo Feurzz., Chil., iii, 41, 
t. 28.—RosENnTH., op, cit., 661 (according to 
Hooker, another name for J, parviflorum 
A.S. H.). Considered as a most powerful pur- 
gative in Chili. 
2 JT. lanatum A. S. H., Fl. Bras. Mer., ii. 
145, n. 11. 
13 T, brevicaule MART, Mat. Med. Bras. t. 
3, 8, fig. 7.—Linpt., Fl. Med., 99. A mild 
purgative is prepared in Brazil by mixing the 
pulverized root with sugar and milk. 

