SIMAUUBEJE. 
199 
tite, leaves abruptly pinnated, leaflets alternate shortly 
petiolulated pubescent beneath. 
Quassia Simaruba, Linn . Sup pi. 234 ? — Lam. III. t. 343. f. 
2? — Wright , Trans. Soc.Edin. II. 73. — Simaruba amara, Aubl. 
Guian. t. 331, 332 ? — S. officinalis, De Cand. Prod. I. 733. 
HAB. Common, Port-Royal mountains. 
FL. June. 
A tree, about 20 feet in height : branches few, erect, terete, 
glabrous. Leaves towards the ends of the branches, abruptly 
pinnated: leaflets alternate, shortly petiolulated, oblong, gla- 
brous and shining above, pubescent and paler beneath. Panicles 
axillary, sub terminal -.divisions short, few-flowered, each furnished 
with a leafy reversely-wedge-shaped bractea at the base : flow- 
ers shortly pedicelled, yellow, dioecious. $ Flowers, with the 
calyx small ; divisions obtuse, minutely ciliated. Petals three 
times the length of the calyx, oblong, obtuse. Stamens length 
of the petals, augmented at the base with 10 ovate villous scales. 
Ovary imperfect, 5-lobuled, destitute of style or stigma. 
<j> Flowers, on a distinct tree and smaller than the male. 
Calyx and corolla as in the male. Stamens 0. Ovaries 5, 
connected at the inner angle : style erect, single : stigmata 5, 
recurved. Fruit of 5, or by abortion, 4-3-2 drupaceous car- 
pels, seated on the enlarged receptacle ; carpels oblong, size of 
a damson, dark purple, smooth, shining, 1 -seeded: seed ovato- 
oblong, compressed. 
This is a very common tree in Port- Royal mountains. Ac- 
cording to Linnaeus and others, the male and female flowers are 
mixed together, on the same panicle. This is not the case with 
our Jamaica plant, which, as Dr Wright long ago remarked, is 
always dioecious. It is possible therefore that our Jamaica spe- 
cies may be distinct from the Quassia Simaruba of Linnaeus, 
although it agrees with the figure of Aublet. I regret, that 
from my notes on this plant being mislaid, I cannot at present 
speak with confidence on the subject. The bark of the Quas- 
sia Simaruba of Linnaeus, is in the lists of the different Na- 
tional Pharmacopoeias, and is the only part of the plant used in 
medicine. It is inodorous, bitter, but not unpleasantly so, to the 
taste, and its virtues are extracted by both alcohol and water. 
It has been remarked, that the infusion is more bitter than the 
decoction. It acts as a tonic, and is used in dyspepsia, diar- 
rhoea, chronic dysentery, and in all cases of impaired tone of the 
alimentary canal. Bichat made the remark, that in a full dose 
it acted as an emetic. 
