100 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



to camphor. It is obtained by treating the powdered bark with boiling alco- 

 hol of 89°, evaporating, and treating the soft residue with a weak solution of 

 potassa. After several washings, the impure Liriodendrine is to be dissolved 

 in alcohol, water added until an opalescent appearance takes place, on spon- 

 taneous evaporation, crystallization will ensue. This product is very analo- 

 gous to that obtained by Dr. Procter from the Magnolia grandiflora, and can 

 scarcely be considered as a peculiar principle, but is rather a compound 

 body, consisting of a resin and a volatile oil. If the virtues of the Tulip tree 

 bark depend on this substance, it is evident that it should be given in infusion 

 rather than in decoction, but alcohol appears to be the most effectual men- 

 struum. 



Drymis. — Forster. 



Calyx 2 — 3 cleft. Corolla 2 — 3 petals, (sometimes more.) Stamens numerous, cla- 

 vate. Anthers 2-celled. Ovaries 4 — 8. Carpels congested, baccate, many-seeded. 



This genus, which consists of several species of trees, all natives of South 

 America, has been made the type of a natural order by some writers, on ac- 

 count of the pellucid dots in the leaves, and their presumed absence in the 

 Magnolias, but as this character is present in Magnolia, it is evident that such 

 a separation of closely-allied genera is not required. 



D. winteri. — Forst. Leaves alternate, obtuse, oblong, glaucous beneath. Peduncles 

 simple, approximated or very short, divided into elongated pedicels. 



Forster, Gen. 84. Stevenson and Churchill, iii. 178. Winterana aroma- 

 tica. Solander, Med. Obs. v, 46. Winter a aromatica. Murray, Syst. 507. 

 Lindley, Flor. Med. 26. 



Common name. — Winter's Bark tree. 



Foreign names. — Canelle de Magellan, Fr. Corteccia Winteriana, It. 



Description. — A very large tree, with a gray wrinkled bark on the trunk, but smooth 



and green on the branch- 

 Fig. 59. es. The branches are 



somewhat erect, and are 

 furnished with obtuse, ob- 

 long, entire leaves, quite 

 smooth, shining, and of 

 a deep green colour 

 above, and glaucous be- 

 neath ; towards the base, 

 the margins are some- 

 what revolute. The pe- 

 tioles are very short, and 

 leave scars on falling off, 

 giving the branches a tu- 

 berculated appearance. 

 The flowers are axillary, 

 and supported on a single 

 short peduncle, or on 

 elongated pedicels ; they 

 are provided with thick, 

 oblortg, pointed bracts. 

 The sepals are two or three, of a green colour, thick, coriaceous, and persistent. The 

 corolla consists of seven white, obtuse, concave, erect petals, very caducous. The fila- 

 ments are numerous, shorter than the petals, and supporting large, oval anthers, 

 longitudinally divided by a deep fissure. The ovary is formed of 4 — 8 carpels, which is 

 surmounted by a sessile stigma. The fruit is ovate, a thick fleshy berry, which is many- 

 seeded. 



D. winteri. 

 1. Sepals. 2. Anther. 3. Carpels. 4. A section of a carpel. 



