1 May, 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 387 
Keonomic Botany. 
No. 6. 
JABORANDI (PILOCARPUS JABORANDI, Holmes). 
By J, F. BAILEY. 
Derivation.—From pilos, a cap,-and karpos, a fruit, referring to the 
shape of the berries. 
Description.—A shrub, belonging to the order Rutacew. Height, 6 to 9 
feet, slightly branched, branches erect, the bark somewhat smooth, grey 
with white dots; the young parts covered with, a red down. Leaves 
alternate, leaflets in 8 to 4 pairs and a terminal one, oval oblong, of a leathery 
consistency, ultimately glabrous, midrib prominent on. the under side. 
Flowers small, numerous, forming narrow racemes often a foot or more long, 
the pedicels thick, about 43-inch long, and spreading horizontally from all 
sides of a thick, cylindrical, somewhat. furrowed rhachis. Fruit of 5 
carpels, but one or more usually partially or completely abortive, the sides of 
which are marked with concentric ridges; seeds few, black and shining. 
Native of Brazil. 
Cultivation.—Jaborandi may be propagated by cuttings, layers, or seeds, 
That the plant will thrive in this colony has been proyed by the fact that one 
planted by Mr. Pink was growing in the Botanic Gardens, Brisbane, to 
within a few years ago, but like many other valuable plants succumbed 
during the 1893 flood. Before that time it was growing vigorously, and was 
standing 6 or 7 feet high, producing its long raceme of flowers, but no fruit. 
Uses, §c.—Jaborandi has been chemically examined by various chemists, 
who have proved the presence of a volatile oil and a volatile alkaloid. The 
alkaloid thus obtained has been found to possess well-marked chemical and 
physiological properties, and although non-crystalline in itself, it is capable 
of forming with acids crystalline salts. It is soluble in water, alcohol, and 
chloroform, The active principle of Jaborandi is an alkaloid to which the 
name of Pilocarpine or Pilocarpia has been given. ‘True Jaborandi is a 
powerful sudorific and sialogogue; after a time a large dose acts as an emetic, 
contracts the pupil of the eye, and causes the approximation of vision. It has 
been used in a great variety of diseases, most successfully in asthma, diabetes, 
and as an antidote to belladonna poisoning. It causes diarrhwa, and promotes 
secretion of milk. It is also employed asa hair wash. A simple method of 
obtaining this alkaloid, according to Hardy, is to make an infusion of the 
leaves, reduce it to a syrupy consistence, mix it with excess of magnesia, 
evaporate to dryness, treat the mixture with chloroform, evaporate the chloro- 
form, and take up the residue with water. Upon placing the solution in a 
vacuum, the water is disengaged, and the base remaing in a free state as a 
colourless viscous mass, soluble in water and alcohol. (B, and T. Med. Pls. 
and Mart. Pharm.) 
According to recent London market reports the price of Jaborandi leaves 
was 24d. per lb. 
