Flora Medica

VIOLACE.E.IONIDIUM.Sepals 5, not prolonged at the base. Corolla unequal, 2-lipped,consisting of 5 petals, the lowest of which is very large and unguiculate.Stamens 5, hypogynous, unequal, the 2 anteriorhaving anthers that are often appendiculate. Capsule protectedby the permanent sepals, petals and stamens, few or manyseeded.Herbaceous plants or shrubs.206. I.Ipecacuanha Aug. de St. H. plant, us. No.ll.jo/. remarq.Bres. p. 307. Bot. Mag. t. 2*53. Mart. sp. mat. med. bras.p. 14. Viola Itoubu Aubl. ii.guian. 808. t. 318. lonidiumItubu HBK. n. g. and sp.v. t. 496. Pombalia Itubu DC.prodr.i. 307. Woods of Brazil. (Poaya branca ;Poaya daPraja.)Leaves alternate, lanceolate-ovate, serrated, acute at each end. Stipulesovate-lanceolate, acute, membranous, ribbed in the middle. Sepalssemipimiatifid. Lower petal very large, transversely elliptical.The roots emetic ;collected as a substitute for true Ipecacuanha. Theyare figured in Mart. spec. mat. med. bras. t. 8. f. 15. and 16.207. I.Poaya Aug. de St. H.pl. us. No. 9. plant, rem. Bres.p. 308. Fields in the western parts of Minas Geraes andelsewhere in Brazil. (Poaya do campo.)Very shaggy. Stem suffruticose, usually simple. Leaves alternate,subsessile, ovate, somewhat cordate at base, rather acute, obsoletelytoothed ; stipules linear, scarious, quite entire, hardly perceptible.Lower petal very large, broadly obcordate. Filaments bearded on theoutside at the apex. Membranous process of the anthers very small.Roots emetic, substituted for true Ipecacuanha in Brazil, in the provinceof the Mines. A. de St. H.208. I.microphyllum HBK. nov. gen. v. 374. t. 495. DC.prodr. i. 310. Cuichunchulli Bancroft in comp. to Bot. mag.i. 278. Quito near the foot of Chimborazo.Stems somewhat quadrangular, smooth on the angles, downy on thesides, filiform, erect, apparently not above 1 foot high, if so much. Leavesall opposite, ovate, wedge-shaped and entire at the base, with 2 or 3 coarseserratures on each side towards the point, covered sparingly on eachside with short fine down. Stipules membranous, linear-ovate, acuminate,longer than the very short petioles. Flowers small, axillary, solitary,erect. Peduncles filiform, slightly downy, twice as long as the leaves.Sepals ovate, acute, with a little fine down along the middle of the back.Lip panduriform, that is, unguiculate, roundish, emarginate, with theclaw almost rhomboidal, from the projection of its sides at oppositepoints. Stated to be a specific in Elephantiasis tuberculata, the ' Maide San Lazaro" of the Spanish Americans, and " Cocobay" of Jamaica.Dr. Bancroft, as quoted above, speaks most favourably of its effects inthis miserable disease. Sir W. Hooker considered the specimens ofthe plant sent home by Dr. Bancroft to be identical with I. parviflorumVent . ; what I describe from samples given me by the Hon. W. F.Strangways under the name of" Cuchunchullyde Cuenfa" is obviouslynot that species, but I think the same as Humboldt's I. microphyllum,