POLYGALACEjE. 



227 



P. paucifolia. 



Rafinesque says that P. pau- Fi s- us. 



cifolia, found in many parts of 

 the United States, is possessed 

 of active properties. That the 

 whole plant, but especially the 

 root, has a sweet, pungent aro- 

 matic taste, somewhat resem- 

 bling that of Gaultheria. Its 

 properties, he goes on to state, 

 are similar to it and P. senega, 

 being stimulant, sudorific, ex- 

 pectorant, &c, but is milder in 

 its action than the latter plant, 

 and may therefore be employed 

 where this is contra-indicated. 

 It may be used in warm infu- 

 sion and decoction. Our own 

 observations do not agree with 

 these; the root appearing rather 

 to have the properties of a tonic 

 and bitter similar to those of the 

 P. amara and P. rubella, than 

 those of Seneka. 



Some species, again, act prin- 

 cipally on the stomach; thus the 

 P. poaya, a native of Brazil, is 

 used as an emetic, and is one of 

 the false ipecacuanhas ; it is spoken of by Martius, under the name of the 

 White ipecacuanha of St. Paul {Journ. Phil. Coll. Pharm., iii. 195). Nor 

 are some of these plants destitute of still more powerful qualities ; as Com- 

 merson states that the P. venenosa of Java is eminently poisonous, so much 

 so, indeed, that from merely touching the leaves he experienced nausea and 

 long-continued sneezing. 



Krameria. — Lozfling. 



Sepals 4 — 5, irregular,, coloured, deciduous. Petals 4 — 5, hypogynous, smaller than 

 the sepals ; two or three superior ones unguiculate ; two lower ones small, scale-like. 

 Stamens 4, hypogynous, unequal. Ovary 1-celled ; style terminal, stigma simple ; ovules 

 2, pendulous. Pericarp between woody and leathery, round, indehiscent, 2-seeded. Seed 

 roundish-ovate, albumen none. 



This genus, which has been formed into a sub-order, consists of spreading, 

 or procumbent, small, shrubby plants, much branched from the base, with 

 alternate, simple, entire leaves, which, with the branches, are usually hairy. 

 The roots of all the species are astringent and bitter. They are mostly 

 natives of the warmer parts of the American continent, one species only 

 having been discovered in North America. 



K. triandra, Ruiz <Sf Pavon. — Leaves oblong, ovate, somewhat pointed, villous. Pe- 

 dicels somewhat longer than the leaf. Stamens 3. 



Ruiz & Pavon, Fl. Peruv. i. 93 ; Churchill & Stephenson, Med. Pot. ii. 

 72 ; Lindley, Flor. Med..\28; Carson, Must. t. 13. 

 Common Name. — Rhatany. 

 Foreign Names. — Ratanhie, Fr. ; Ruiz para los dientes, Sp. 



