MEDlCINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. PARTS 1 & 11.

OPUNTIA TUNA Mill. Tuna: Indian Fig; Prickly Pear.
The 'leaves' (stems) of tuna are used to make a decoction used 'to keep away inflammation inside'. The
baked sliced stem is applied to swellings and bound on the head and put in the bed for vomiting and fever. For
headaches the sliced stem is bound on the head and for soreness, pains and constipation it is rubbed with salt
and applied as a poultice. The stem is said to contain calcium oxalate and calcium malate. It also produces tuna
gum which contains a substance called bassorin. The fruit is astringent. (8, I5, 26).
CAESALPINIOIDEAE*
CAESALPINIA BONDUC Roxb. Yellow Nicker: Nicker; Bonduc.
C. BONDUCELLA Flem. Grey Nicker: Nicker; Bonduc.
Although grey nicker is considered superior, the seeds of both species are dried and ground and used
like coffee to prepare a drink which is thought useful for kidney trouble, diabetes and high blood pressure. In
India the seeds of C. bonducella are regarded as tonic and anti-periodic. They are also said to be emetic and
anthelmintic and were at one time used in Dominica as a diuretic and cathartic. The seeds contain a bitter
principle, bonducin, which is not a glucoside but is probably of a resinous nature. Recent data indicate that
alkaloids and tannins are absent but that saponin (about which earlier data were contradictory) is present.
Also present are sugars, starch, fatty oil and, it is said, a phytosterol glucoside which on cleavage gives
phytosterol and a reducing sugar. (3, 8, 10, 15, 24, 26, 27).
C. CORIARIA Willd. Divi-divi: Libi-dibi.
The fruits contain 30 to 50 per cent tannin and tannic acids. They are astringent and are used to make a
gargle for sore throat. A decoction of the leaves and stems is similarly used and also for stomach-ache. The pod,
powdered, is also said to be tonic and antiperiodic. (8, 27).
CASSIA OBOVATA Collad. Jamaica Senna: Port Royal. Dog, Senegal. Tripoli, or Italian Senna: Senegal
Cassia.
Stated to have been introduced into Jamaica in the seventeenth century by a slave, this senna is still said
to be used here as a substitute for the official sennas. At one time it was official in the British Pharmacopoeias
as an ingredient of Alexandrian senna. Both pods and leaves contain oxymethylanthraquinone (1.1 to 1.15 per
cent in the leaves and about 1.2 per cent in the pods) and also probably emodin. At one time it was cultivated on
the Palisadoes with a view to exporting the senna. In Africa in addition to its use as a cathartic the leaves
are used as a dressing for burns and ulcers. (3, 7, 10, IS, 19, 23, 26, 27).
C. OCCIDENTALIS L. Wild Senna: Dandelion; Stinking Weed or Wood; John Crow Pea: Wild
Coffee.
The seeds of this species are dried, beaten up, and used as a coffee substitute. The drink prepared from
them has a reputation for usefulness in kidney and bladder troubles and malaria. it is also said to be useful for
palpitations and high blood pressure. The leaves are probably used for constipation, pain, fever and colds. The
root is said to be diuretic and used for colds. The seeds contain tannic acid, mucilage, fatty oil. emodin and a
toxalbumin. The roots, leaves and pods contain traces of oxymethylanthraquinone. Similar uses of the plant are
found in Africa. C. ligustrina L. and possibly other cassia species also go under the name of dandelion and are
used in the same way. (2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27).
HAEMATOXYLUM CAMPECHIANUM L. (Campeachy) Logwood.
Beckwith says that the chipped bark is used with sugar to make a drink. The wood and bark were
formerly used by Jamaican medical men as an astringent for diarrhoea and dysentery.
*See also LEGUMINOSAE.