Order I. 
DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
353 
5860 Leaves pinnated smooth. Outer leaflets largest 
5861 Leaflets lanceolate undulate, Flowers with 4 petals 
5862 Leaves bipinnate, Leaflets smooth somewhat quinate 
5863 Leaves bipinnate. Leaves cut rugose shining about 9, Petiole rounded at base 
5864 Leaves pinnate 
5865 Leaves alternate oval and obovate entire sinuate-toothed or pinnatifid. Pedicels twin axillary 1-flowercd 
5566 Leaves pinnate in four pairs. Leaflets ovate-lanceolate equal at base, Panicles axillary 
5867 Leaves pinnate in four pairs. Leaflets elliptical roundish emarginate unequal at base, Panicle terminal 
5868 The only species. Leaves pinnated with an odd one. Panicles axillary 
5869 Leaves pinnated with an odd one in 3 pairs. Pan. axill. on long stalks 
5870 Leaflets of 2 or 3 pairs obtuse. Capsules 2-celled 
5871 Leaves simple opposite sessile roundish 
5872 Leaves conjugate stalked. Leaflets obovate, Peduncles erect. Calyx smooth 
5873 Leaves conjugate stalked. Leaflets obovate. Flower nodding. Calyx pubescent 
5874 Leaves conjugate stalked. Leaflets linear-lanceolate 
5875 Leaves conjugate stalked. Leaflets clavate fleshy with a cobweb surface 
and Miscellaneous Particulars. 
strength and duration is required, and weight no object. It takes a fine polish, turns well, and is much used 
for ship blocks. It is one of the most valuable trees of the West Indies ; since the timber, the bark, fruit, 
leaves, and blossom, are all applicable to some useful purpose. The wood yields by incision the peculiar 
substance called Guaiacum, erroneously termed a gum, of great importance in medicine. 
All the parts of this tree possess medicinal qualities ; but the wood and the peculiar substance afforded by 
it are the only parts used : the virtues of the wood depend altogether on the peculiar matter it contains. 
This is spontaneously exuded from the tree, and is called native gum: it concretes in tears, which are semi- 
pellucid, and very pure ; but the greater part of it is obtained by making incisions into the trunk, or, as it is 
termed, jagging the tree. This operation is performed in May ; and the juice which flows copiously, is con- 
creted by the sun. It is also obtained by sawing the wood into billets, and boring a hole longitudinally through 
them ; so that, when one end of a billet is laid on a fire, the guaiac melting runs through the hole from the 
opposite end, and is collected in a calabash. Boiling the chips or raspings in salt and water also separates 
the guaiac, which, as it rises to the surface, may be collected by skimming. 
Both the wood and the guaiac are stimulant, diaphoretic, diuretic, and purgative. The wood was intro- 
duced into Europe by the Spaniards as a remedy for lues venerea in 1508, and gained much celebrity from 
curing Van Hutten ; but it had long before been used for the same purpose by the natives of St. Domingo. 
It obtained so much reputation, that the exhibition of mercury was discontinued for a considerable length of 
time, and even in the eighteenth century its specific powers over this disease were maintained by Boerhaave ; 
but frequent disappointments and more correct observations have shown that it possesses no powers of 
eradicating the venereal virus ; and that it is useful only after a successful mercurial course, for repairing the 
fitrength and vigor of the system, " and where a thickened state of the ligament, or of the periosteum, remains, 
or where there are foul indolent ulcers;" {Pearson's Observations, Sec. p. 10.) or in suspending the progress of 
some of the secondary symptoms for a short time, as ulcers of the tonsils, eruptions, and nodes. The decoc- 
tion of the wood has been found more useful in cutaneous diseases, scrofulous affections of the membranes 
and ligaments, and in oza?na. The guaiac itself is an efficacious remedy in chronic rheumatism and arthritic 
affections, as well as those diseases for which the decoction of the wood is usually given ; and in every respect 
it may be regarded as the active ingredient of the wood. Its sensible effects are a grateful sense of warmth in 
the stomach, dryness of the mouth and thirst, with a copious flow of sweat, if the body be ke])t externally 
warm, or if the guaiac be united with opium and antimonials : but when the body is freely exposed, instead of 
producing diaphoresis, it augments considerably the secretion of urine. (Thomson's London Dispensatory, 318.) 
Lignum vitee in the stove grows freely in loam and peat. " Cuttings," Sweet observes, " are generally sup- 
posed to be difficult to root ; but I find ripened cuttings, taken off at a joint, root readily, planted thin in a pot 
of sand, and plunged under a hand-glass in heat. "When the cuttings are rooted, which will be easily per- 
ceived by their growing at the top, they should be potted off ; when great care must be taken not to break oft 
the youiig roots in taking the sand from them, as they are very small and easily broken. Pot them off in very 
small pots, and keep them under a close glass or a few days, till they have struck fresh root, when they must 
be exposed to the air by degrees." {Bot. Cult. 63.) 
994. Zygophyllum. From ^yya?, a pair, and (pvXXov, a leaf; all the leaves grow in pairs. Morgsana, vjh'ich 
IS the name of one species, is the Syrian nanne of the plant. These are plants of little ornament, generally 
with fleshy leaves, and flowers of a yellow or whitish yellow color. 
A a 
