Flora Medica

EUPHORBIACEjE.Very like C. Tiglium, but leaves ovate, obtuse at the base, quitedestitute of stellate hairs, hardly ever 3-nerved, the principal basal veinsbeing alternate with each other. Flowers larger males decandrous.;Capsule dotted, hispid, with the seeds much smaller than the cells thatcontain them. This is supposed to have been the original Tilly-seedplant; but it is doubtful whether the figure quoted from Rumphius belongsto it. There is no question about its being a distinct species ;and in allprobability others equally allied to it will yield an oil of similar quality.365. C. Draco Schlecht in Linn. vi. 360. Woods nearPapantla in Mexico.A tree with the leaves, flowers, and young shoots covered all overwith a coarse hoary starry fur. Leaves cordate, acuminate, minutelytoothed or entire, longer than their footstalks, as they grow olderlosing their hoariness a little ;the larger about 5x3 inches ; petioleswith 4 wart-like glands at the apex, so hidden by the fur that theycannot be seen till it is scraped away. Racemes 1-2 feet long, with thehoary flowers clustered at regular intervals all along it. Male flowerswith 20-24 stamens.According to Schiede this abounds in a sanguinejuice, which hardens into the finest kind of Dragon's blood (Sangrc deldrago of the Mexicans), used in Mexico as a vulnerary and astringent.366. C. sanguifluus HBK. ii. 89. of New Andalusia; and367. C. hibiscifolius HBK. ib. of New Granada ;have similarproperties, and are equally called Sangre del Drago.368. C. polyandrum Roxb. fl. ind. iii. 682. Jatropha montanaWilld. sp. pi. iv. 563. Borders of rills and moist places inthe Circar mountains.Stems several from the same root, shrubby, straight. Branches few ;young shoots a little downy and round, 3-6 feet high. Leaves alternate,stalked, oval, sometimes lobed, deeply toothed, or coarsely andremotely serrate, a little hairy, 3-nerved, with 2 projecting brownglands at the base from 2 to 6;inches long. Petioles round, about 1inch long. Stipules 0, but 2 glands in their place. Male flowers racemose,small, dull yellow. Racemes axillary, erect, interrupted. Calyx5-leaved. Corolla 0. Disk a membranaceous, yellow ring, surroundingthe base of the filaments. Filaments shorter than the calyx, numerous,distinct, compressed, clavate, with the points bifid, and bearing each 2oval anthers. Female flowers stalked, axillary. ^ Calyx cylindrical,5-toothed. Corolla 0. Disk as in the male. Seeds exactly like thoseof Ricinus communis, but much smaller. Seeds reckoned by theHindoos a good purgative one seed bruised in water administered for;each evacuation. Roxb.N.B. The true genus of this plant doubtful.369. C. lacciferum Linn. sp. pi. 1426. N. and E. handb.i. 378. C. aromaticum Spreng.iii. 869. Aleurites lacciferaWilld. iv. 591 .(Burm. Zeyl t. 9 J .) Ceylon.Branches densely furred. Leaves stalked, oblong, downy, serrulate,acute at each end, or obtuse at the base, with a pair of kidney-shapedglands at the base. Racemes long, terminal, loose, leafless exceptquite at the base. Flowers single, downy. Fruit tomentose, roundish,the size of a large pea. Bark of the root aromatic and purgative.The branches yield very fine lac in grains, in small quantities.182