582 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



order is Citrus. The orange (Citrus Aurantium) is extensively cultivated in 

 California and Florida. C. Aurantium var. vulgaris is the bitter orange which 

 has run wild in Florida and other parts of the world. It is used in the manu- 

 facture of candied orange peel. The citron (C Medico) produces the oil of 

 citron, the thick peel being used to make the citron of commerce. The lemon 

 (C. Limonum), wild in northern India, introduced into Europe by the Crusaders, 

 is now well known in cultivation in California. The lime (C. Limetta) is cul- 

 tivated in all tropical countries, and with the lemon is used to make lime juice. 

 It is a refreshing drink and on sea voyages is used as an antiscorbutic. The 

 lemon and lime are forms of C. Medica. The mandarine or tangerine (C 

 Aurantium) having a small flattened fruit with a thin rind and rich fruit, 

 is grown in California and China. It is hardier than the orange, but probably 

 a form of it. The shaddock or grape fruit (C. decumana) with large and some- 

 what bitter fruit, is native to Polynesia, and in recent years has become much 

 better known in the United States. The kumquat (C japonica), native to 

 Japan and China, produces a small and pleasantly flavored fruit. The Aegle 

 sepiaria (C. trifoliata) hardy as far north as Washington, is a spiny shrub 

 producing a many-seeded, yellow, austere fruit. Hybrids of the species and C. 

 Aurantium with better and larger fruit, have been produced by Webber. The 

 sour orange or Naranja (C Bigaradia) of Porto Rico and Florida is used for 

 stocks in all plantings on moist lands because it resists the foot-rot which affects 

 other varieties. The Beal fruit {Aegle Marmelos), native of India, with fruit 

 about the size of an orange, produces a delicious fragrant material used in 

 medicine. Jaborandi {Pilocarpus pennatif alius) native to Brazil contains the 

 alkaloid pilocarpin Cj^jH^^N^O^ and is a powerful diaphoretic. The adminis- 

 tration of more than S grs. of the alkaloid is dangerous to horses when given 

 subcutaneously. Atropin is an antidote. The alkaloid jaborin C..H N O. re- 

 sembles atropin, also the alkaloid pilocarpidin. The bark of angustura {Cus- 

 paria febrifuga) native to Venezuela contains cusparin CjjH^jjNO, three other 

 alkaloids and the bitter principle angusturin. The C. tnxicaria of Brazil is poison 



Fig. 321. Orange (Citrus Aurantium). 1. Flowering 

 branch. 2. Longitudinal section of flower. 3. Longitudinal 

 section of fruit. 4. Seed. (After Wossidlo). 



