DESCRIPTIVE CATAIOGXTE. 215 



ium tough-edged, longer than the scaly bract; culm (stem) 3-sided, the sides chan- 

 neled (triquetrous), smooth, shorter than the rough-edged broad leaves. 

 This species was described by Presl from specimens collected by Haenke in Guam. 

 References: 



Carex densiflora Presl, Rel. Haenk. 3: 204. 1828. 

 Carex fuirenoides. Sedge. 



A sedge with androgynous spikelets; male flowers with 3 stamens, female flow- 

 ers with 3 styles; panicles spike-like, axillary and terminal, solitary, with long 

 peduncles, clusters numerous; spikelets oblong-cylindrical, pistillate below, stami- 

 nate above; scales many-nerved, male ovate-oblong, mucronate-subaristate, dark- 

 hyaline, female scales ovate-subrotund, with rounded apex, aristulate, veined, 

 smooth, dark-hyaline; perigynia obovate-oblong, with attenuated beaks, slightly 

 curved, ribbed, dark-brown, smooth, twice the length of the scale; beak rough on 

 the upper margin, bidentate at the orifice. Immature achene obovate-oblong, tri- 

 gonal, terminated by the persistent thickish base of the style. 

 This species was described by Gaudichaud from specimens collected in Guam. 

 References: 

 ^ Carex fuirenoides Gaudich. Bot. Freyc. Voj'. 412. 1826. 



Carica papaya. Papaw. 



Family Caricaceae. 



Local names. — Papaya (Spanish); Lechoso (Mexico); Papal, Maneo, Mamerio 

 (Brazil); Mamon (Paraguay); Papaya, Kapayo, Capayo (Philippines); Esi 

 tane (male), Esi fafine (female) (Samoa). 



A tree suggesting a palm in its habit of growth, bearing a crown of large palmately- 

 lobed, long-stalked leaves on a slender, straight, fleshy trunk, which is normally 

 unbranched. It is usually dioecious, the staminate (male) and the pistillate (female) 

 flowers being borne on separate trees, the former funnel-shaped having 10 anthers 

 inserted on the throat of the corolla; the latter larger, 5-petaled, with one pistil 

 bearing a 5-rayed stigma. Occasionally trees are found with hermaphrodite flow- 

 ers. All parts of the plant abound in milky juice, or latex, which has remarkable 

 pepsin-like digestive properties. The melon-shaped fruit grows from the axils 

 of the lower leaves, the normal fruit from the female flowers being sessile, while 

 that from the hermaphrodite flowers is borne on long pedicels. The milky juice 

 from the unripe fruit when rubbed on meat has the property of making it tender. 

 By experiment it has been found that this juice is more eflicacious than pepsin in 

 dissolving albumen and muscular fibre. From the half-ripe fruits a proteolytic 

 ferment has been derived which differs from pepsin in that its action on proteids 

 goes on in neutral or alkaline solutions as well as in acid solutions. 



From the seeds of the papaw a glucoside called caricin has been obtained; from 

 the leaves an alkaloid called carpaine, the physiological action of which is similar 

 to that of digitalis, a heart depressant. In commerce there are a number of prepara- 

 tions claiming to be the ferment of the papaw, sold under the name of papain, 

 papayotin, caroid, papoid, etc. On examination of several of these substances they 

 were found by Mr. F. B. Kilmer to be merely the dried and powdered latex of the 

 papaw, bearing the same relation to the true separated ferment as the dried mucous 

 membrane of the stomach might bear to purified pepsin. A series of experiments 

 was carried on by Mr. Kilmer demonstrating beyond a doubt the digestive properties 

 of the true papaw ferments." 



Papaws are very easily grown. They spring up spontaneously in open places and 

 clearings in the forest, especially where the undergrowth has been burned, from seeds 

 dropped by birds. The tree grows rapidly, the leaves falling off as the trunk shoots 



a See Kilmer, The Story of the Papaw, American Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 73, pp. 

 272, 336, and 383, 1901. 



