268 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



spleen. A decoction of the bark is very astringent, and has also the reputa- 

 tion of acting as a diuretic. (Macfadyen, i. 306.) 



'Many produce edible fruit or seeds, among which may be noticed Parkia 

 africana, the seeds of which are much used in Africa (Brown, Append. 

 Denham and Clappertori). Those of the I. camatchili are also esteemed in 

 Manilla for the agreeable pulp that surrounds them. (Perrotet, Ann. Soc. 

 Lin.) The bark of some species, as Algarobia, afford an intoxicating 

 liquor when distilled with sweetened water ; and finally, the wood of many 

 of these plants is very useful in the arts. 



Acacia. — Willdenow. 



Flowers polygamous, bisexual and male. Calyx 4 — 5-toothed. Petals 4 — 5, free or 

 cohering to form a 4 — 5-clefl gamopetalous corolla. Stamens indefinite. Legume con- 

 tinuous, juiceless, 2-valved. 



This extensive genus, which contains upwards of two hundred and fifty 

 species, formerly constituted part of Mimosa ; but was separated by Willde- 

 now, with many others, from that heterogeneous group. It is composed of 

 trees and shrubs, of various habit and foliage, with stipular or scattered 

 thorns, or unarmed. The flowers are yellow, white, rarely red, capitate or 

 spiked, and are decandrous, polyandrous, or monadelphous. It is still a cha- 

 otic mass of ill-defined species, and requires much revision. 



1. A. catechu, Linn. — Thorns stipular ; leaves pubescent, bipinn ate; pinnae 10 — 30 

 pairs ; leaflets 30 — 50 pairs ; petiole with a large gland below the first pinnae, and an- 

 other near extremity ; spikes cylindrical ; legume flat, thin, straight, 4 — 8-seeded. 



Linn., Suppl. 409 ; Woodville, iii. 433 ; Stephenson and Churchill, ii. 76 ; 

 Willdenow, Sp. PI. iv. 73. 



Common Names. — Catechu, Catechu Acacia. 



Foreign Names. — Cachou, Ft. ; Catto d'Injdia, It. ; Katechubaum, Ger. 



Fig. 138. Description. — A small tree, 



fifteen or twenty feet high, with 

 a thick, scabrous, ferruginous 

 bark, which is red within, very 

 astringent, and somewhat bit- 

 ter. The branches are irregu- 

 lar, and more or less pubescent 

 when young ; the older ones 

 beset with numerous stipular 

 prickles, in pairs and recurved. 

 The leaves are alternate, and 

 composed of from ten to thirty 

 pairs of pinnae, each having nu- 

 merous small, linear leaflets, 

 covered with short hair, and of 

 a pale-green colour. The com- 

 mon petiole is sometimes armed 

 on the lower side with a few 

 recurved prickles, and bears a 

 gland below the lower pair of 

 pinnae, and another near the 

 extremity. The flowers are 

 hermaphrodite and male, nu- 

 merous, axillary, in slender cylindrical spikes, of a pale-yellow colour. The calyx is tu- 

 bular, hairy, and 5-toothed. The corolla is composed of 5 petals, united into a tube at 

 base, and is much longer than the calyx. The stamens are numerous, with roundish 



A. catechu. 

 1. Stamens. 2. Legume. 



