252 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



hinia, and, according to Martius, a gum resembling Senegal is the product of 

 Pitkecolobium gummiferum. It has been mentioned that Anime is procured 

 from the Hymencea courbaril, and the Mexican and Brazilian copal are 

 supposed to be from other species ; that of Madagascar is from the H. verru- 

 cosa. 



Among the dyes, Logwood is from Hcematoxylon Campechianum ; Bra- 

 zil wood from Ccesalpinia echinata ; Braziletto wood from C. Brasiliensis ; 

 Sappan wood from C. sappan; Camwood from Baphia nitida, &c. Many 

 of these trees afford a fine, hard, heavy wood, much used in the arts. 



KLematoxylon. — Linn. 



Fig. 129. 



Sepals 5, united at base into a persistent tube ; lobes caducous. Petals 5, not much 

 longer than sepals. Stamens 10, diadelphous. Legume compressed, 1-celled, 2-seeded. 



There is but a single species of this genus, which is peculiar to South 

 America and the West Indies. Its name is founded on the blood-red colour 

 of the heart-wood. 



H. campkachianum, Linn. — The only species. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 549 ; Woodville, Med. Bat. iii. t. 163; Sloane, Jam. ii. t. 

 10, f. 1—4 ; Catesby, Car. iii. t. 66; Macfadyen, Fl. Jam. i. 332 ; Lind- 

 ley, Flor. Med. 264. 



Common Names. — Logwood ; Campeachy wood. 



Foreign Names. — Bois de Campeche, Fr. ; Legno Campeggio, It. ; Kam- 

 peschenholz, Ger. 



Description. — A middle- 

 sized tree with a contorted 

 trunk, rarely more than a foot 

 and a half in diameter, and 

 covered with an ash-coloured, 

 rough bark. The branches 

 are crooked, and beset with 

 sharp thorns. The leaves are 

 pinnate, or somewhat bipin- 

 nate, with obovate or subcor- 

 date leaflets. The flowers are 

 yellow, have an agreeable 

 odour, and are collected in ter- 

 minal racemes. The sepals 

 are united at base into a per- 

 sistent tube, with five decidu- 

 ous lobes. The petals are 

 scarcely longer than the se- 

 pals. The stamens are ten ; 

 the filaments hairy at base, 

 and the anthers without 

 glands. The ovary is com- 

 pressed, and bears a capillary 

 style. The legume is flat, 

 lanceolate, acuminate at both ends, 1-celled and 2-seeded, the valve bursting in the mid- 

 dle longitudinally. The seeds are transversely oblong. 



The Logwood is a native originally of Campeachy, and other maritime 

 parts of South America, but having been long since introduced into many 

 of the West India islands, has become naturalized there. The part used both 

 in medicine and the arts, is the heart-wood, the bark and white alburnum 



H. campechianum. 

 1. Style. 2. Legume. 



