4i6 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



Sweet Cassava {Manikot A ipi, Pohl.). — This plant 

 resembles the Bitter Cassava in external appearance, 

 but differs from it in being non-poisonous, and may- 

 be eaten with impunity. In the West Indies it is a 

 common article of food when boiled or roasted, and 

 is also eaten in some parts of South America. When 

 boiled it is as mealy as a potato. The expressed 

 juice of this root when fermented constitutes the 

 intoxicating liquor drunk by the Indians, and called 

 Piwarry. Cassava meal and bread and Cassava 

 starch and tapioca are prepared from the Sweet as 

 well as from the Bitter Cassava Root. — ' Medicinal 

 Plants,' Bentley and Trimen, No. 235. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



{Acalypha indica, L.). — Small plant. The expressed 

 juice of the leaves is in great repute in India as an 

 emetic for children, and is safe, certain and speedy in 

 its action ; it is also highly spoken of as an ex- 

 pectorant, being especially useful in the bronchitis of 

 children. A cataplasm of the leaves is favourably- 

 spoken of as a local application to syphilitic ulcers, 

 and to relieve pain and irritation attendant on the 

 bites of venomous insects. The root is purgative. — 

 ' Pharmacopoeia of India,' Waring, p. 205. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



Castor Oil {Ricinus communis, L.). — ^A very vari- 

 able plant, both in habit and appearance. In tropical 

 countries it forms a tree reaching forty feet high, and 



