194 



the bark, wood, and leaves are full of an astringent sap, and that 

 the inhabitants use the bark of the trunk and root for cleaning 

 the teeth. It grows in Jamaica, Gruadaloupe, Trinidad and in 

 Central and northern South America. 



The tree has compound leaves, somewhat like the common cedar ; 

 yellow pea -like flowers, half an inch long ; and a flat rounded pod, 

 containing one seed. ( Leguminosat.) 



92 Quassia amara, Linn. — The wood is the original Quassia from Suri- 



nam which acquired reputation as a drug. When the demand 

 exceeded the supply, it was found that a native tree of Jamaica 

 (Picrcena excelsa) was of equal value, which is known as Jamaica 

 Quassia or Bitter Wood. (Simarubacece.) 



93 Bandia maculata, D C, A shrub 10 to 15 feet high, is a native of 



Africa. It is nearly related to Gardenia, and in fact it is often 

 called in gardens Gardenia Stanleyana. The flowers are fragrant 

 and coloured white spotted inside with purple. (Rubiacece,) 



94* Baphia Buffi a, Mart. — The Baphia Palm grows in brackish 

 swamps in Madagascar. The trunk is not large but the pinnate 

 leaves are often 50 feet in length. The Raphia fibre prepared 

 from this Palm is quoted at 40/ per cwt. The fruit spikes are 6 feet 

 long hanging down from amongst the leaves and weighing as much 

 as 200 or 300 lbs. The fruits as large as eggs, are covered with 

 shining overlapping scales. (Palmm.) 



95. Baphia t^edigera, Mart.— The Jupati Palm, says Mr. Wallace, is 

 one of the most striking of the many noble Palms which grow on 

 the rich alluvium of the Amazon. Its comparatively short stem 

 enables us fully to appreciate the enormous size of its leaves, which 

 are at the same time equally remarkable for their elegant form. 

 They rise nearly vertically from the stem and bend out on every 

 side in graceful curves forming a magnificent \ lume seventy feet 

 in height and forty in diameter. The stem does not generally 

 exceed six or eight feet in height, and is about a foot in diameter, 

 clothed for some distance down with the persistent sheathing 

 bases of the leaf-stalks and the numerous spinous processes which 

 proceed from them. 



The leaf-stalk of this tree is most extensively useful. It is 

 often twelve or fifteen feet long below the first leaflets, and four 

 or five inches in diameter, perfectly straight and cylindrical. 

 When dried, it almost equals the quill of a bird for strength and 

 lightness, owing to its thin hard outer covering and soft internal 

 pith. But it is too valuable to the Indian for him to use it entire. 

 He splits off the smooth glossy rind in perfectly straight strips, 

 and makes baskets and window blinds. The remaining part is 

 of a consistence between pith and wood, and is split up into laths 

 about half an inch thick and serves for a variety of purposes. 

 Window shutters, boxes, bird cages, partitions and even entire 

 houses are constructed of it. In the little village of Nazare near 

 Para, many houses of this kind may be seen in which all the walls 

 are of this material, supported by a few posts at the angles and 



