50 ; 
TRISTANIA NERIFOLIA.—A myrtaceous plant from Australia, called 
the mean tree, owing to its furnishing.a fluid resembling that 
product . 
URCEOLA’ ELASTICA.—A plant belonging to the Apocynacece, a native 
of the islands Borneo and Sumatra, where its milky juice, collected by 
making incisions in its soft, thick, ragged bark, or by cutting the trunk 
into junks, forms one of the kinds of caoutchoue 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 2 a pulp which i is much eaten by the natives. 
URENA LOBATA.—A Malvaceous plant, possessing mucilaginous prop- 
erties, for which it is used medicinally. The bark affords an abundance 
of fiber, resembling jute rather than flax or hemp. 
VANGUERIA EDULIS.—A cinchonaceous plant, the fruits of which are 
eaten in Madagascar under the name of Voa-vanga. The leaves are 
used in medicine. 
VANILLA PLANIFOLIA.—The Vanilla plant belongs to the Orchid fam- 
ily. The fruit is used by confectioners and others for flavoring creams, 
liqueurs, and chocolates. There are several species, but this gives the 
finest fruit. 
VATERIA INDICA.—This plant yields a.useful gum-resin, called Indian 
copal, piney varnish, white dammar, or gumanine. The resin is procured 
by cutting a notch in the tree, so that the juice may flow out and be- 
come hardened. It is used as a varnish for pictures, carriages, &e. 
On the Malabar coast it is manufactured into candles, which burn with 
a clear light and an agreeable fragrance. The Portuguese employ this 
resin instead of incense. Ornaments are fashioned from it under the 
name of amber. It is also employed in medicine. 
WRIGHTIA TINCTORIA.—The leaves of this plant furnish an inferior 
kind of indigo. The wood is beautifully white, close-grained, and ivory- 
like, and is much used for making Indian toys. 
XANTHORRHGA ARBOREA.—The Grass Gum tree of Australia, also 
called Black Boy. This isa liliaceous plant. which produces a long flower- 
stalk, bearing at the top an immense cylindrical flower-spike, and when 
the short black stem is denuded of leaves, the plants look very like 
black men holding spears. The leaves afford good fodder for cattle, 
and the tender white center is used asa vegetable. A fragrant resin, 
called acaroid resin, is obtained from it. 
YucCA ALOEFOLIA.—The Yucca leaves afford a good fiber, and some 
southern species are known as Bear’s Grass. The root-stems also furnish 
a starchy matter, which has been rendered useful in the manufacture of 
starch. 
ZAMIA FURFURACEA.—This plant belongs to the order Cycadeacee, 
and is grown to some extent for the starchy m matter contained in the 
stem, W hich is collected and used as arrow-root; but it is not the true 
arr ow- root, that being produced by a species of Maranta. 
ZAMIA INTEGRIFOLIA. —The Coontie plant of Florida. The large 
succulent roots afford a quantity of arrow-root, said to be equal to the 
best of that from Bermuda. The fruit has a coating of an orange-col- 
ored pulp, which is said to form a rich edible food. It was from the 
roots of this plant that the Seminoles of Florida obtained their white- 
meal. 
ZINGIBER OFFICINALE.—This plant is cultivated in most warm coun- 
tries tor the sake of its rhizomes, which farnish the spice called ginger. 
