Part 7

345. PIPER NIGRUM.--This twining shrub yields the pepper of commerce. It is cultivated in the East and West Indies, Java, etc., the Malabar being held in the highest esteem. The fruit when ripe is of a red color, but it is gathered before being fully ripe and dried in the sun, when it becomes black and shriveled. White pepper is the same fruit with the skin removed. When analyzed, pepper is found to contain a hot acrid resin and a volatile oil, as well as a crystalline substance called _piperin_, which has been recommended as a substitute for quinine.

346. PISTACIA LENTISCUS.--The mastic tree, a native of southern Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. Mastic is the resin of the tree and is obtained by making transverse incisions in the bark, from which it exudes in drops and hardens into small semitransparent tears. It is consumed in large quantities by the Turks for chewing to strengthen the gums and sweeten the breath. It is also used for varnishing.

347. PISTACIA TEREBINTHUS.--The Cyprus turpentine tree. The turpentine flows from incisions made in the trunk and soon becomes thick and tenacious, and ultimately hardens. Galls gathered from this tree are used for tanning purposes, one of the varieties of morocco leather being tanned with them.

348. PISTACIA VERA.--The pistacia tree, which yields the eatable pistachio nuts. It is a native of western Asia. The nuts are greatly eaten by the Turks and Greeks, as well as in the south of Europe, either simply dried like almonds or made into articles of confectionery.

349. PITHECOLOBIUM SAMAN.--This leguminous plant yields eatable pods, which are fed to cattle in Brazil. Some Mexican species produce pods that are boiled and eaten, and certain portions contain saponaceous properties. The pods are sometimes called Manila tamarinds. The leaves of this tree fold closely up at night, so that they do not prevent the radiation of heat from the surface of the ground, and dew is therefore deposited underneath its branches. The grass on the surface of the ground underneath this tree being thus wet with dew, while that under other trees is found to be dry, has given it the name of rain tree, under the supposition that the leaves dropped water during the night.

350. PITTOSPORUM UNDULATUM.--A plant from New Zealand, which reaches a considerable size, and furnishes a wood similar to boxwood. The flowers are very fragrant.

351. PLAGIANTHUS BETULINUS.--The inner bark of the young branches of this plant yields a very fine fiber, sometimes called New Zealand cotton, though more like flax than cotton; it is the Akaroa of the New Zealanders. In Tasmania it bears the name of Currajong. Good cordage and twine for fishing nets are made from this fiber. A superior paper pulp is prepared from the wood; it is also employed in making handles to baskets, rims for sieves, and hoops for barrels.

352. PLATONIA INSIGNIS.--A Brazilian tree which bears a fruit known in that country as Pacoury-uva. The pulp of this fruit is semiacid, very delicious, and is employed in making preserves. The seeds embedded in this pulp have the flavor of almonds.

353. PLUMBAGO SCANDENS.--The root of this plant is called Herbe du Diable in San Domingo; it is acrid in the highest degree, and is a most energetic blistering agent when fresh.

354. PLUMERIA ALBA.--A South American plant. The flowers are used in perfumery, and furnish the scent known as Frangipane or Frangipani. In Jamaica the plant is known as red jasmine.

355. POGOSTEMON PATCHOULY.--This plant affords the celebrated patchouli perfume. The peculiar odor of patchouli is disagreeable to some, but is very popular with many persons. The odoriferous part of the plant is the leaves and young tops, which yield a volatile oil by distillation, from which an essence is prepared; satchels of patchouli are made of coarsely powdered leaves. Genuine Indian shawls and Indian ink were formerly distinguished by their odor of this perfume, but the test does not now hold good. Ill effects, such as loss of sleep, nervous attacks, etc., have been ascribed to its extensive use.

356. PONGAMIA GLABRA.--Some years ago this tree was recommended as suitable for avenue-planting in the south of France. In India an oil called poonga is expressed from the seeds, which is much used for mixing with lamp oil. It is of a deep yellow color, and is fluid at temperatures above 60 deg. F., but below that it becomes solid.

357. PORTLANDIA GRANDIFLORA.--This plant belongs to the cinchonaceous family, and is said to possess properties similar to those of the true cinchona. The bark is exceedingly bitter.

358. PSIDIUM CATTLEYANUM.--This is the purple guava from China. The fruits are filled with juicy, pale flesh, of a very agreeable acid-sweet flavor.

359. PSIDIUM PYRIFERUM.--The West Indian guava, a well-known fruit in the tropics, but only known here in the shape of guava jelly. The wood of the tree has a fine, close grain, and has been experimented with as a substitute for boxwood for engraving purposes, but it is too soft to stand the pressure of printing.

360. PSYCHOTRIA LEUCANTHA.--A plant belonging to the cinchona family. Emetic properties are assigned to the roots, which are also used in dyeing. Native of Peru.

361. PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM.--This tree affords gum-kino, which is obtained by making incisions in the bark, from which the juice exudes and hardens into a brittle mass, easily broken into small angular, shining fragments of a bright ruby color. It is highly astringent. The wood is hard and valuable for manufacturing purposes.

362. PUNICA GRANATUM.--The pomegranate, a native of northern Africa and western Asia. The fruit is valued in warm countries on account of its delicious cooling and refreshing pulp. Numerous varieties are grown, some being sweet and vinous, and others acid or of a bitter, stringent taste; the color also varies from light to dark red. The bark of the root abounds in a peculiar principle called _punicin_. This bark appears to have been known to the ancients, and used by them as a vermifuge, and is still used in Hindostan as a specific against tapeworm. The rind of the fruit of the bitter varieties contains a large amount of tannin, and is used for tanning morocco leather. The flowers yield a red dye.

363. QUASSIA AMARA.--The wood of this plant furnishes Surinam quassia. It is destitute of smell, but has an intensely bitter taste, and is used as a tonic. The root has also reputed medicinal value, as also have the flowers.

364. QUILLAJA SAPONARIA.--The Quillai or Cully of the Chilians. Its bark is called soap-bark, and is rough and dark-colored externally, but internally consists of numerous regular whitish or yellowish layers, and contains a large quantity of carbonate of lime and other mineral matters. It is also rich in _saponine_, and is used for washing clothes; 2 ounces of the bark is sufficient to wash a dress. It also removes all spots or stains, and imparts a fine luster to wool; when powdered and rubbed between the hands in water, it makes a foam like soap. It is to be found in commerce.

365. RANDIA ACULEATA.--A small tree native of the West Indies, also found in southern Florida. In the West Indies the fruit is used for producing a blue dye, and medicinal properties are assigned to the bark.

366. RAPHIA TAEDIGERA.--The Jupati palm. The leaf-stalks of this plant are used by the natives of the Amazon for a variety of purposes, such as constructing inside walls, making boxes and baskets, etc. _R. vinifera_, the Bamboo palm, is similarly used by the Africans, who also make a very pliable cloth of the undeveloped leaves. Palm wine is one of the products of the genus.

367. RAVENALA MADAGASCARIENSIS.--This plant is called the Traveler's tree, probably on account of the water which is stored up in the large cup-like sheaths of the leaf-stalks, and which is sought for by travelers to allay their thirst. The broad leaves are used in Madagascar as thatch to cover their houses. The seeds are edible, and the blue, pulpy aril surrounding them yields an essential oil.

368. RHAPIS FLABELLIFORMIS.--The ground rattan palm. This is supposed to yield the walking-canes known as rattan, which is doubted. It is a native of southern China, and is also found in Japan, where it is known by the name of Kwanwortsik.

369. RHIZOPHORA MANGLE.--This plant is known as the mangrove, possibly because no man can live in the swampy groves that are covered with it in tropical countries. The seeds germinate, or form roots before they quit the parent tree, and drop into the mud as young trees. The old plants send out aerial roots into the water, upon which the mollusca adhere, and as the tide recedes they are seen clinging to the shoots, verifying the statements of old travelers that they had seen oysters growing on trees. All parts of this tree contain tannin. The bark yields dyes, and in the West Indies the leaves are used for poulticing wounds. The fruit is edible; a coarse, brittle salt is extracted from the roots, and in the Philippines the bark is used as a febrifuge.

370. ROTTLERA TINCTORIA.--This plant belongs to the order _Euphorbiaceae_, and reaches the size of a small tree in the Indian Archipelago and southern Australia. From the surface of the trilobed capsules of this plant, which are about the size of peas, a red, mealy powder is obtained, well known in India as kamala, and which is used by Hindoo silk-dyers, who obtain from it a deep, bright, durable orange or flame color of great beauty. This is obtained by boiling the powder in a solution of carbonate of soda. When the capsules are ripe the red powder is brushed off and collected for sale, no other preparation being necessary to preserve it. It is also used medicinally as an anthelmintic and has been successfully used in cases of tapeworm. A solution removes freckles and pustules and eruptions on the skin.

371. RUELLIA INDIGOTICA.--This small bush is extensively cultivated in China for the preparation of a blue coloring-matter of the nature of indigo. The pigment is prepared from the entire plant by a process similar to that employed in procuring the common indigo. It is sold in China in a pasty state. The water in which the plant is steeped is mixed with lime and rapidly agitated, when the coloring deposits at the bottom of the vessel.

372. SABAL ADANSONII.--This dwarf palm is a native of the Southern States. The leaves are made into fans, and the soft interior of the stem is edible.

373. SABAL UMBRACULIFERA.--This is a West Indian palm; the leaves are used for various purposes, such as making mats, huts, etc.

374. SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM.--The sugar cane. Where the sugar cane was first cultivated is unknown, but it is supposed to have been in the East Indies, for the Venetians imported it from thence by the Red Sea prior to the year 1148. It is supposed to have been introduced into the islands of Sicily, Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus by the Saracens, as abundance of sugar was made in these islands previous to the discovery of the West Indies in 1492 by the Spaniards, and the East Indies and Brazil by the Portuguese in 1497 and 1560. It was cultivated afterwards in Spain, in Valentia, Granada, and Murcia by the Moors. In the fifteenth century it was introduced into the Canary Islands by the Spaniards and to Madeira by the Portuguese, and thence to the West India Islands and to Brazil. The Dutch began to make sugar in the island of St. Thomas in the year 1610 and in Jamaica in 1644. Its culture has since become general in warm climates and its use universal.

375. SAGUERUS SACCHARIFER.--The arenga palm, which is of great value to the Malays. The black horsehair like fiber surrounding its leaf-stalks is made into cordage; a large amount of toddy or palm wine is obtained by cutting off the flower spikes, which, when inspissated, affords sugar, and when fermented a capital vinegar. Considerable quantities of inferior sago and several other products of minor importance are derived from this palm.

376. SAGUS RUMPHII.--This palm produces the sago of commerce, which is prepared from the soft inner portion of the trunk. It is obtained by cutting the trunk into small pieces, which are split and the soft substance scooped out and pounded in water till the starchy substance separates and settles. This is sago meal; but before being exported it is made into what is termed pearl sago. This is a Chinese process, principally carried on at Singapore. The meal is washed, strained, and spread out to dry; it is then broken up, pounded, and sifted until it is of a regular size. Small quantities being then placed in bags, these are shaken about until it becomes granulated or pearled.

377. SALVADORA PERSICA.--This is supposed to be the plant that produced the mustard seed spoken of in the Scriptures.

378. SANDORICUM INDICUM.--A tropical tree, sometimes called the Indian sandal tree, which produces a fruit like an apple, of agreeable acid flavor. The root of the tree has some medicinal value.

379. SANSEVIERA GUINEENSIS.--Called the African bowstring hemp, from the fibers of the leaves being used for bowstrings.

380. SANTALUM ALBUM.--This tree yields the true sandalwood of India. This fragrant wood is in two colors, procured from the same tree; the yellow-colored wood is from the heart and the white-colored from the exterior, the latter not so fragrant. The Chinese manufacture it into musical instruments, small cabinets, boxes, and similar articles, which are insect proof. From shavings of the wood an essential oil is distilled, which is used in perfumery.

381. SAPINDUS SAPONARIA.--The soapberry tree. The fruit of this plant is about the size of a large gooseberry, the outer covering or shell of which contains a saponaceous principle in sufficient abundance to produce a lather with water and is used as a substitute for soap. The seeds are hard, black, and round, and are used for making rosaries and necklaces, and at one time were covered for buttons. Oil is also extracted from the seeds and is known as soap oil.

382. SAPIUM INDICUM.--A widely distributed Asiatic tree which yields an acrid, milky juice, which, as also the leaves of the plant, furnishes a kind of dye. The fruit in its green state is acid, and is eaten as a condiment in Borneo.

383. SAPOTA ACHRAS.--The fruit of this plant is known in the West Indies as the sapodilla plum. It is highly esteemed by the inhabitants; the bark of the tree is astringent and febrifugal; the seeds are aperient and diuretic.

384. SAPOTA MULLERI.--The bully or balata tree of British Guiana, which furnishes a gum somewhat intermediate between India rubber and gutta-percha, being nearly as elastic as the first without the brittleness and friability of the latter, and requiring a high temperature to melt or soften it.

385. SCHINUS MOLLE.--The root of this plant is used medicinally and the resin that exudes from the tree is employed to astringe the gums. The leaves are so filled with resinous fluid that when they are immersed in water it is expelled with such violence as to have the appearance of spontaneous motion in consequence of the recoil. The fruits are of the size of pepper corns and are warm to the taste. The pulp surrounding the seeds is made into a kind of beverage by the Mexican Indians. The plant is sometimes called Mexican pepper.

386. SCHOTIA SPECIOSA.--A small tree of South Africa called Boerboom at the Cape of Good Hope. The seeds or beans are cooked and eaten as food. The bark is used for tanning purposes and as an astringent in medicine.

387. SEAFORTHIA ELEGANS.--This palm is a native of the northern part of Australia, where it is utilized by the natives. The seeds have a granular fibrous rind, and are spotted and marked like a nutmeg.

388. SELAGINELLA LEPIDOPHYLLA.--This species of club moss is found in southern California, and has remarkable hygrometric qualities. Its natural growth is in circular roseate form, and fully expanded when the air is moist, but rolling up like a ball when it becomes dry. It remains green and acts in this peculiar manner for a long time after being gathered. Of late years numbers have been distributed throughout the country under the names of "Rose of Jericho" and "Resurrection Plant." This is, however, quite distinct from the true Rose of Jericho, _Anastatica hierochuntica_, a native of the Mediterranean region, from Syria to Algeria. This plant, when growing and in flower, has branches spread rigidly, but when the seed ripens the leaves wither, and the whole plant becomes dry, each little branch curling inward until the plant appears like a small ball; it soon becomes loosened from the soil, and is carried by the winds over the dry plains, and is often blown into the sea, where it at once expands. It retains this property of expanding when moistened for at least ten years.

389. SEMECARPUS ANACARDIUM.--The marking nut tree of India. The thick, fleshy receptacle bearing the fruit is of a yellow color when ripe, and is roasted and eaten. The unripe fruit is employed in making a kind of ink. The hard shell of the fruit is permeated by a corrosive juice, which is used on external bruises and for destroying warts. The juice, when mixed with quick-lime, is used to mark cotton or linen with an indelible mark. When dry it forms a dark varnish, and among other purposes it is employed, mixed with pitch and tar, in the calking of ships. The seeds, called Malacca beans, or marsh nuts, are eaten, and are said to stimulate the mental powers, and especially the memory; and finally they furnish an oil used in painting.

390. SERISSA F[OE]TIDA.--A cinchonaceous shrub, having strong astringent properties. The roots are employed in cases of diarrhea, also in ophthalmia and certain forms of ulcers. It is a native of Japan and China.

391. SHOREA ROBUSTA.--This tree produces the Saul wood of India, which has a very high reputation, and is extensively employed for all engineering purposes where great strength and toughness are requisite. It is stronger and much heavier than teak. An oil is obtained from the seeds, and a resin similar to Dammar resin is likewise obtained from the tree.

392. SIDA PULCHELLA.--A plant of the mallow family; the bark contains fibrous tissues available for the manufacture of cordage. The root of _S. acuta_ is esteemed by the Hindoos as a medicine, and particularly as a remedy for snake bites. The light wood of these species is used to make rocket sticks.

393. SIMABA CEDRON.--A native of New Grenada, where it attains the size of a small tree, and bears a large fruit containing one seed; this seed, which looks like a blanched almond, is known in commerce as the cedron. As a remedy for snake bites it has been known from time immemorial in New Grenada. It is mentioned in the books of the seventeenth century. Recently it has obtained a reputation as a febrifuge, but its value as an antidote to the bites of snakes and scorpions is universally believed, and the inhabitants carry a seed with them in all their journeyings; if they happen to be bitten by any venomous reptile they scrape about two grains of the seed in brandy or water and apply it to the wound, at the same time taking a like dose internally. This neutralizes the most dangerous poisons.

394. SIMARUBA OFFICINALIS.--This tree yields the drug known as Simaruba bark, which is, strictly speaking, the rind of the root. It is a bitter tonic. It is known in the West Indies as the mountain damson.

395. SIPHONIA ELASTICA.--The South American rubber plant, from which a great portion of the caoutchouc of commerce is obtained. There are several species of siphonia which, equally with the above, furnish the India rubber exported from Para. The caoutchouc exists in the tree in the form of a thin, white milk, which exudes from incisions made in the trunk, and is poured over molds, which were formerly shaped like jars, bottles, or shoes, hence often called bottle rubber. As it dries, the coatings of milky juice are repeated until the required thickness is obtained, and the clay mold removed. It belongs to the extensive family _Euphorbiaceae_.

396. SMILAX MEDICA.--This plant yields _Mexican_ sarsaparilla, so called to distinguish it from the many other kinds of this drug. The plant is a climber, similar to the smilax of our woods.

397. SPONDIAS MOMBIN.--This yields an eatable fruit called hog plum in the West Indies. The taste is said to be peculiar, and not very agreeable to strangers. It is chiefly used to fatten swine. The fruit is laxative, the leaves astringent, and the seeds possess poisonous qualities. The flower buds are used as a sweetmeat with sugar.

398. STRELITZIA REGINAE.--A plant of the Musa or banana family. The flowers are very beautiful for the genus. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. The seeds are gathered and eaten by the Kaffirs.

399. STRYCHNOS NUX-VOMICA.--This is a native of the Coromandel coast and Cochin-China. It bears an orange-like fruit, containing seeds that have an intensely bitter taste, owing to the presence of two most energetic poisons, _strychnine_ and _brucine_. The pulp surrounding the seeds is said to be harmless, and greedily eaten by birds. The wood of the plant is hard and bitter, and possesses similar properties to the seeds, but in a less degree. It is used in India in intermittent fevers and in cases of snake bites. _S. tiente_ is a Java shrub, the juice of which is used in poisoning arrows. _S. toxifera_ yields a frightful poison called Ourari or Wourari, employed by the natives of Guiana. This is considered to be the most potent sedative in nature. Several species of _Strychnos_ are considered infallible remedies for snake bites; hence are known as snakewood. _S. pseudo-quina_, a native of Brazil, yields Colpache bark, which is much used in that country in cases of fever, and is considered equal to quinine in value. It does not contain strychnine, and its fruits are edible. _S. potatorum_ furnishes seeds known in India as clearing-nuts, on account of their use in clearing muddy water. St. Ignatius beans are supposed to be yielded by a species of Strychnos, from the quantity of strychnine contained in the seeds.

400. SWIETENIA MAHAGONI.--This South American plant furnishes the timber known in commerce as mahogany. The bark is considered a febrifuge, and the seeds prepared with oil were used by the ancient Aztecs as a cosmetic. The timber is well known, and much used in the manufacture of furniture.

401. TACCA PINNATIFIDA.--This is sometimes called South Sea arrowroot. The tubers contain a great amount of starch, which is obtained by rasping them and macerating four or five days in water, when the fecula separates in the same manner as sago. It is largely used as an article of diet throughout the tropics, and is a favorite ingredient for puddings and cakes.