APOCYNACE^. 



171 



androsmmifolium^ a shrub by no means unfrequent in botanic gardens and nurse- 

 ries, is remarkable for the curious structure and arrangement of its stamens, 

 which are five in number, with short filaments ; the anthers are connivent, arrow- 

 shaped, and cohere with the stigma about their middle ; so that flies and such 

 other insects as insert their proboscis between them, are unable to withdraw it : 

 it is not unusual therefore, in examining the flowers of one of these plants, to find 

 a majority of them with a fly thus detained in the little bell-shaped corolla. The 

 plant contains a milky juice ; the root is intensely bitter, and contains emetic 

 properties. 



The Taberncemontana utilis of Arnott (the milk-tree or Hya-Hya of Deme- 

 rara) is considered to belong to this order. This very remarkable tree is 

 described as yielding a large quantity of rich milky fluid ; so abundant indeed, 

 that a tree which was felled on the banks of a small stream had, in the course of 

 an hour or two, completely whitened the water. The milk is said to leave a 

 slight clamminess upon the lips, but to be perfectly free from all acrimony. It is 

 very questionable, however, whether it contains any nutritive qualities, as, accord- 

 ing to the analysis of Christison, it is found to contain a small proportion of 

 caoutchouc, and a large proportion of a substance possessing in some respects 

 peculiar properties, which appear to place it intermediately between caoutchouc 

 and the resins. 



Ichnocarpus, a native of Ceylon, is used, according to Professor Royle, as a 

 substitute for Sarsaparilla. — Wriglitia antidysenterica, a native of Ceylon, Malabar, 

 and various parts of the East Indies, furnishes the bark called Conessi, which has 

 been introduced in European practice as a valuable astringent and febrifuge. 

 Another species is particularly valuable to the dyer, as yielding a fine blue colour 

 which has been said to be equal to indigo. The wood of some of the species is 

 admirably adapted for turning, possessing a whiteness and a fineness of grain 

 resembling ivory. 



The genus Nerium furnishes some of the most splendid ornaments of our 

 greenhouses. The leaves of Nerium Oleander are acrid and poisonous ; they 

 contain also, according to Decandolle, an abundance of free gallic acid. The 

 leaves of Vinca (the common periwinkle) are sufficiently astringent to have been 

 employed in the process of tanning. 



The juice of the plants of this order is generally milky, acrid, more or less 

 caustic and bitter ; and it is the opinion of Decandolle that Caoutchouc (Indian 

 rubber) might be obtained from the greater part of them. An excellent 

 Caoutchouc is obtained in Sumatra from Urceola elastica. 



Plumieria is a fine genus of plants, with showy fragrant flowers. Plumieria 

 rubra, a native of Jamaica and Surinam, yields a highly corrosive milk. — P. 

 acutifolia is a constant favourite in the gardens of India, China, and Cochinchina. 



Carrier aria (latifolia), the bastard Manchineel tree, a native of the meadows 

 in Jamaica, Cuba, and Saint Domingo, is a tall elegant tree, with white terminal, 



z 2 



