Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
July,  1893. 
}  Pernambuco  Jaborandi.  3  5 1 
(4)  The  color  and  markings  of  the  corolla. 
(5)  The  shape  of  the  calyx  lobe. 
(6)  The  color  of  the  seed  and  its  hairiness  or  baldness,  and  the 
relative  length  of  its  awn  and  plume. 
If  these  directions  are  followed  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
identifying  herbarium  specimens  of  the  plant.  If  the  collector  can- 
not make  a  sketch  of  the  flower  in  water  colors,  an  expanded  flower 
may  be  immersed  in  vaseline  in  a  bottle,  and  will  then  retain  its  colors 
until  its  arrival  in  England. 
PERNAMBUCO  JABORANDI.1 
BY  E.  M.  HOLMES,  F.  L.  S., 
Curator  of  the  Museum  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain. 
The  leaves  and  fruits  of  the  Pernambuco  jaborandi  were  described 
and  figured  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  eighteen  years  ago,2  but 
until  quite  recently  I  was  unable  to  obtain  the  inflorescence  in  good 
condition.  At  the  time  I  pointed  out  that  the  plant  was  probably  dis- 
tinct from  Pilocarpus  pennatifolius,  Lem.,  under  which  name  the  drug 
has  been  frequently  described.3  There  is  little  doubt,  however,  that 
an  inferior  variety  of  jaborandi,  said  to  be  collected  near  Asuncion  in 
Paraguay,  is  obtained  from  P.  pennatifolius,  since  specimens  of  the 
fruit  taken  from  the  drug  in  commerce  are  similar  in  character,  and  the 
flowers  are  also  of  the  dull  purple  color,  like  that  of  cultivated  plants  of 
P.pennalifolius  in  Mr.  Thos.  Hanbury's  celebrated  garden  near  Venti- 
miglia.  The  leaves  also  are  thin,  obovate,  tapering  at  the  base  and 
the  veins  on  the  upper  surface  are  not  prominent. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  R.  I.  Lynch,  F.L.S.,  Curator  of  the 
Botanic  Gardens  at  Cambridge,  I  received  last  year  a  perfect  inflores- 
cence of  the  Pernambuco  plant,  which  has  been  in  cultivation  both 
there  and  at  Edinburgh  for  a  few  years.  The  inflorescence  proved 
at  once  that  the  Pernambuco  plant  is  a  distinct  species.  The  principal 
distinctive  characters  were  pointed  out  at  an  evening  meeting  of  the 
.Society  last  year  [Pharm.   jfourn.  [3],  vol.  xxii,  p.  875),  but  a 
1  Pharm.     ur.  and  Trans.,  June  10,  1893,  p.  1008. 
2P-J-,  [3],  vol.  v,  pp.  581-583. 
3  Bentl.  and  Trimen,  "Med.  Plants,"  No.  48  ;  "  Bot.  Mag."  tab.  7235. 
