MEDICO-BOTANICAL NOTICES. 
101 
ART. XVII.— MEDICO-BOTANICAL NOTICES. No. X. 
Passiflora. — This extensive and beautiful genus of plants 
is almost peculiar to tropical countries, very few of its species 
being found in the more temperate regions. They are all 
climbing plants, with alternate, simple, generally lobate leaves, 
and axillary flowers, which are succeeded by a sort of apple 
or pepo, of a pleasant and refreshing taste, on which account 
they are much esteemed in warm climates. From the beauty 
and peculiarity of their flowers, they are also an object of in- 
terest to the horticulturist. 
In a medical point of view, they likewise deserve attention, 
as some of the species are endowed with energetic properties, 
more especially the P. quadrangular is, a native of the isle of 
Bourbon, but extensively cultivated in the West Indies for 
the sake of its fruit, which is considered as one of the most 
grateful of the tropical productions, having a luscious, but at 
the same time a subacid taste. 
The root is long and slender, having a blackish epidermis; 
the cortical portion is of a claret red colour, and the wood of 
a yellowish white. When fresh, it possesses an odour some- 
what resembling that of the radish; its taste is acrid and 
astringent, without bitterness. According to Dr. J. B. Ricord 
Madianna, {Jinn. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York i. 129,) 
this root, in a fresh state, is a violent acro-narcotic, acting ra- 
pidly and energetically on the brain; this he attributes to a 
peculiar principle which he has called Passiflorine, but it 
does not appear certain that the deleterious properties depend 
solely on the presence of this body, but rather on a more volatile 
constituent, which is dissipated on drying the root, for it has 
been satisfactorily shown that it loses all its poisonous quali- 
ties by age. An infusion has been recommended for the ex- 
pulsion of taeniae, but, added to the danger attendant on its use, 
its anthelmintic powers are very problematical. 
The P. rubra, a native of Jamaica and other of the West 
