4o6 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



' Economic Products of India/ Watt, part vi., No. i88. 

 Kew Museum. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



Amarantus spinosus, L. — Erect annual, one to two 

 feet high. A poultice of the leaves is officinal in the 

 Bengal Pharmacopoeia : but it is a simple emollient. 

 In Mauritius a decoction of the leaves and roots is 

 used internally as a diuretic, and in Central America 

 the root is used in dysentery. The plant also 

 possesses mucilaginous properties. — ' Pharmacopoeia 

 of India,' Waring, p. 184. — Kew Museum. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, Cape Verd Islands. 



Amarantus paniculatus, L. — Annual, with a stem 

 four to five feet high. Largely cultivated in India 

 for its seed, which when ground into flour is used as 

 food by the natives. — Kew Museum, 



Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



Amarantus viridis, L. — Erect annual. According 

 to Roxburgh the tender tops of this plant are eaten 

 by the natives, though not so much esteemed as the 

 cultivated sorts. — Roxburgh's ' Flora Indica,' vol. iii., 

 p. 60s. 



Distribution : Cape Verd Islands. 



Cyathula prostrata, Blume {Achyranthes prostrata, 

 L.). — Slender annual, one to two feet high. Tonic, 

 diaphoretic, and astringent. Used in Ceylon under 

 the name of "Bin Sebo" in fevers, diarrhoea, and 



