41 



415. Tixospora cordifolia. — A climbing plant, so tenacious of life that when 



the stem is cut across or broken, a rootlet is speedily sent down from above, 

 which continues to grow until it reaches the ground. A bitter principle, 

 columbine, pervades the plant. An extract called galuncha is prepared 

 from it, considered to be a specific for the bites of posionous insects and for 

 ulcers. The young shoots are used as emetics. 



416. Triphasia trifoliata. — A Chinese shrub, with fruit about the size of hazel- 



nuts, red-skinned, and of an agreeable sweet taste; when green, they have 

 a strong flavor of turpentine, and the pulp is very sticky. They are also 

 preserved whole in sirup, and are sometimes called limeberries. 



417. TbisTANIA NERIFOLTa. — A myrtaeeous plant from Australia, called the tur- 



pentine tree, owing to its furnishing a fluid resembling that pro luct. 



418. Urceola elastica. — A plant belonging to the Apocynucece, a native of the 



islands of Borneo and Sumatra, where its milky juice, collected by making 

 incisions in its soft, thick, rugged bark, or by cutting the trunk into junks, 

 forms one of the kinds of caoutchouc called juitawan, but it is inferior to 

 the South American, chiefly owing to want of care in its preparation, the 

 milky juice being simply coagulated by mixing with salt water, instead of 

 being gradually inspissated in layers on a mold. The fruit contains a pulp 

 which is much eaten by the natives. 



419. Urexa lobata. — A malvaceous plant, possessing mucilaginous properties. f< r 



which it is used medicinally. The bark affords an abundance of fiber, re- 

 sembling jute rather than flax or hemp. 



420. Uvaria ODORATISSIMA. — An Indian plant which is supposed to yield the essen- 



tial oil called Ylang-Ylang, or Alan-gilan. This oil is obtained by distillation 

 from the flowers, and is highly esteemed by perfumers, having an exquisite 

 odor partaking of the jasmine and lilac. 



421. Vangueria edulis. — A cinchonaceous plant, the fruits of which are eaten in 



Madagascar under the name of Voa-vanga. The leaves are used in medi- 

 cine. 



422. Vanilla planifolia. — The vanilla plant, which belongs to the orchid family. 



The fruit is used by confectioners and others for flavoring creams, liquors, 

 and chocolates. There are several species, but this gives the finest fruit. It 

 is a climbing orchid, and is allowed to climb on trees when cultivated for its 

 fruit. In Mexico, from whence is procured a large portion of the fruit, it 

 is cultivated in certain favorable localities near the Gulf coast, where the 

 climate is warm. Much of the value of the bean depends upon the process 

 of its preparation for the market. In Mexico, where much care is given to 

 this process, the pods are gathered before they are fully ripe and placed in 

 a heap, under protection from the weather, until they begin to shrivel, when 

 they are submitted to a sweating process by wrapping them in blankets in- 

 closed in tight boxes; afterwards they are exposed to the sun. They are 

 then tied into bundles or small bales, which are first wrapped in woolen 

 blankets, then in a coating of banana leaves first sprinkled with water, then 

 placed in an oven heated up to about 140° F. Here they remain for twenty- 

 four to forty-eight hours, according to the size of the pods, the largest re- 

 quiring the longest time. After this heating they are exposed to the sun 

 daily for fifty or sixty days, until they are thoroughly dried and ready for 

 the market. 



423. Vateria indica. — This plant yields a useful gum resin, called Indian copal, 



piney varnish, white dammar, or gumanine. The resin is procured by cut- 

 ting a notch in t lie tree, so that the juice may flow out and become hardened. 

 It is used as a varnish for pictures, carriages, etc. On the Malabar coasl it 

 is manufactured into candles, which burn with a clear light and an agree- 

 able fragrance. The Portuguese employ this resin instead of incense. Orna- 

 ments are fashioned from it under the name of amber. It is also employed 

 in medicine. 



424. Weinmannia racemosa.— A New Zealand tree called Towhia by the natives 



of that country, its lark is used fortanning purposes, and as a red and 

 brown dye, which give fast colors upon cotton fabrics. 



425. Wrightia tixctoria. — The leaves of this plant furnish an inferior kind of in- 



digo. The wood is beautifully white, close-grained, and ivory-like, and is 

 much used for making Indian toys. 



426. Xaxthorrhcea arborea. — The grass gum tree of Australia, also called black 



boy. This is a liliaceous plant, which produces a long flower- stalk, bear- 

 ing at the top an immense cylindrical flower-spike, and when the short 

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