OILS — DRUGS 



331 



by the World War. Linen cloth is made from the bast fibers 

 of the stem of this herb. Burlap and coarse bags are made from 

 the fiber of the jute plant, raised in India. 



Vegetable Oils. — Some of the same plants which give fiber 

 also produce oil. Cottonseed oil pressed from cotton seeds, lin- 

 seed oil from the seeds of the flax plant, and coconut oil (the 

 covering of the nut produces the fiber) are examples. One of the 

 important industries of California is olive culture, the fruit being 

 used as a table delicacy, while oil pressed from the fruit is a well- 

 known table oil. 



Drug-producing Plants. — Quinine, the specific for malaria (page 

 279), was known by the Indians in South America before the white 

 men came. It is made from the bark of the cinchona tree. South 

 America also furnishes us with co'caine, a habit-forming drug made 

 from the leaves of the coca tree of Peru. Morphine and opium 

 come from the poppy. Many of our pleasant oils and flavors as 

 eucalyptus, wintergreen, peppermint, etc., come from plants. 



Harmful Green Plants. — We have seen that many green plants 

 are very useful to man. There are, however, some that are harm- 

 ful. For example, the poison ivy is extremely poisonous to touch. 



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Virginia creeper. 



Poison ivy. 



It is a climbing plant which attaches itself to trees or walls by 

 means of tiny air roots which grow out from the stem. It has 

 leaves divided in three parts, which aid in distinguishing it from its 

 harmless climbing neighbor, the Virginia creeper, which has leaves 



