296 



BOTANY AND PHARMACOGNOSY. 



complete, having two purple petals and three stamens. The fruit 

 is a I -seeded, globular, prickly, indehiscent pod. K. Ixina found 

 growing from Mexico to Northern South America, and K. argen- 

 tea of Northern Brazil, are distinguished by having flowers with 

 three petals and four stamens. The root is the part used in 

 medicine (p. 453). 



Copaiba Langsdorffii is a small tree found growing in Brazil. 

 The leaves are 6- to lo-foliate, the leaflets being ovate-lanceolate, 



Fig. 153. Acacia Senegal: A, flowering branch: B, a single flower showing numerous 

 stamens; C, part of legume showing attachment of seeds; D, E, sections of seeds. — 

 After Taubert. 



glabrous, coriaceous, and pellucid-punctate. The flowers are apet- 

 alous, and the fruit is an ellipsoidal, coriaceous, 2-valved pod hav- 

 ing a single glandular seed with an arillus. An oleo-resin collects 

 in longitudinal cavities in the trunk of the tree, often amounting 

 to many liters, and sometimes the pressure thus produced is suf- 

 ficient to burst the trunk in places. The oleo-resin is official as 

 Copaiba. The latter consists of 30 to 75 per cent, of a volatile 

 oil from which the sesquiterpene caryophyllene has been iso- 

 lated ; a bitter acrid resin and a bitter principle. A similar product 



