BUBIACE^. 387 



the reputation of curing colic, spasm, several nervous disorders, as 

 hypochondria, hysteria, &c. 



Some Rubiacece have edible fruit, particularly the Genipas. The 

 Indians eat that of G. americana (fig. 296), which is astringent and 

 not agreeable to Europeans, and make a sort of wine from its fermented 

 juice; they also tattoo themselves with its pulp. The fruit of G. 

 Oaruto is used in the same way on the banks of the Orinoco. In Peru 

 the fruit of G. oblongifoUa is eaten; in Cayenne that of Amaioua 

 eriopila ' and A. edulis.^ In tropical Africa, the compound fruit of 

 Sarcocephalus esculentus ' is eaten by the inhabitants, as also that of 

 some species of Oxyanthus and of Ganthium edule * (fig. 290-292). 

 The small acid fruit of Gateshaa spinosa ® and that of Hamelia patens, 

 in the Antilles, are sometimes utilized, but are not esteemed. Those 

 of Isertj,a cocdnea and Posoqueria drupacea " are consumed in Guyana ; 

 but they are indifferent. Those of the Elders are sometimes eaten 

 or used to make confectionary or beverages ; a kind of brandy is made 

 from the drupes of the Black Elder and the pulp is mixed with wine 

 to colour it. The fruits of Vibernum Opulus and Lantana are also 

 eaten but they are detestable. In India that of Ganthium parviflorum 

 is considered edible, as also in America that of Mitchella repens '' (fig. 

 294), in Oceania that of Guettarda speciosa (fig. 286, 287), which is 

 astringent and disagreeable. 



The wood ' of the Rubiacece is of indifferent quality, and large trees 

 are not common in this family. Remarkable exceptions however are 

 Nauclea and Ourouparia, the wood of which is of extreme hardness 

 and might be used* for the same purposes as Box. That of several 



' Duroia eriopila L, p. Suppl. 30, 209. — Genipa * Vangneria edulis Vahl, Symh. iii. 36. — DC. 



Muriance EicH. Suh. 164. Prodr. iv. 454, u. 1. — V. cymosa GtMrts. f. Fruet, 



' Gardenia edulis ToiR. Suppl. n, 708. — Genipa iii. 75, t. 193. — V. madayascariensis Gmel. — V. 



edulis EiOH. (L.-O.). — Mibertia edulis Rich. (A.) Commersonii Dbsp. — jAca. Sort. Schceiihr. i. t. 



Sub. 154, t. 11, fig. 1 (Goyave noire). Thefruit 44. — V. venosa Schimp. — Favanga edulis Vahl, 



of Geni?)« mto'i is eaten and used in the prepara- Act. Hafn. ii. -p. i.i^l, 208, t. 7. — V. chinensis 



tion of an astringent extract. In Oooliin China, Rohk. V. spinosa Eoxb. of India has also 



that of G. eseulenta Lour, is eaten ; in America, edible fruit. 



\i!ia,ioi Gardenia MussaendaT'R'vs'B.; inAsiaand ' L. Spec. 169. — Curt. Bot. Mag. t. 131. — 0. 



Africa that of some species of Gardenia, Sandia longifiora Sw. 



and' Oxyanthus. « Sandia ? drupacea DC. Prodr. iv. 389. 



' ArziiL. ex Sab. Trans. Hort. Soc. Lond. t. 1 L. Spec. 161. — DC. Prodr. iv. 452, n. 1. 



442, t. 18._ — HieKn, F1. Trap. Afr. iii. 38. — ' That of Cinchona, Anthoeephalus, Nauclea, 



Cephalina eseulenta Sohum. et Thonn, BesTcr Gardenia, Coffea, Sambucus, Lonicera, Viburnum, 



Guin. 105. — .Nauclea latifolia Sm. Sees Gyelop. Symphoricarpos, has heen specially studied by 



xxiii. n. 5. — ? N. aambucina Wint. Acc. S. Leone, M. J. Moeller {Seitr. zur Vergl. Anat, d. Bolz. 



ii. 46 [Boy, Amelliky, at Sierra-Leone). Denlcaohr. Wien. Akad. Wise. 1876). 



c c 2 



