.1836.} Observations on ike Flora of Courtallum. 90 



In its properties, te acridity, causticity and poison/ 5 form 

 the leading features ; hence its species are always to be re- 

 garded with suspicion. The bish or bikh of Nepaul, a species 

 of aconite, one of the most active vegetable poisons known 5 

 belongs to this order. 



It is suspected that that, or an allied plant, possessing si- 

 milar properties is a native of the Goomsoor country, as a 

 root, somewhat resembling it, was found in some wells, appa- 

 rently introduced with the intention of poisoning them, and 

 had proved injurious to the health of people who drank the 

 water. The belief that the bikh is a native of that country, 

 pan only be viewed as a conjecture, since the roots were so 

 much decomposed, before the discovery was made, that they 

 could not be preserved for examination. I was however in* 

 duced to make some inquiries on the subject of poisonous 

 roots in this part of the country, and had one brought, said 

 to be so, which proved to be the Gloriosa super ba ; whether 

 or not it is poisonous I have not ascertained, but I did find 

 that a large proportion of its substance consists of pure 

 farina or arrow root. The subject is certainly deserving of 

 further inquiry, and is mentioned here in the hope that some 

 of those employed in that country, will endeavour to procure 

 specimens both of the root and plant. If an aconite is found, 

 most of the European officers will be able to recognise it 

 from its likeness to the monkshood of the English gardens, 

 which belongs to that genus. 



II. Dilleniacece. 

 This, as already observed, is mainly a tropical Order, for 

 though many of them, particularly those of New Holland., 

 extend several degrees beyond that zone, yet we do not know 

 any that reach a high latitude ; and even if they did, a few 

 exceptions would scarcely affect the general rule. Of this 

 family I have as yet only found three species at Courtallum, 

 one of them Acrotrema, varying greatly in habit from the 

 other two, and from the rest of the Order ; being a stemless, 

 herbaceous plant, growing in moist clefts of rocks ; most of 

 the other species are either trees or shrubs. Tetracera 

 Rhndii, a very common shrub on the Malabar coast, I have 

 not yet found ; though probably a native at least of the passes 



