Flora Medica

ALCHORNEA.ALCHORNEA.Flowers dioecious. $ . Calyx 2-5-parted. Stamens 8 ; withthe filaments united in a ring at the base. ? . Calyx 3-5-toothed.Style bipartite. Stigmas 2. Capsule baccate, dicoccous. A.deJ.381. A. latifolia Swartz prodr. 98. fi.ind. occ. ii. 1154.Mountains in the South of Jamaica.A tree 20 feet high. Leaves stalked, ovate, acuminate, obtuse,remotely toothletted, very smooth and shining, rugose beneath; petioleslong, reflexed, smooth. Racemes axillary and terminal, 6-10inches long, compound, somewhat panicled. Males in alternate clustersof 4-5, yellow-green. Sepals ovate, concave, equal, coloured. Femaleracemes longer, drooping, generally lateral, not axillary, simple, angular,smooth ;flowers subsessile, alternate, remote, solitary. Capsule blackish,the size of a large pea. Nees and Ebermaier refer the Alcornocobark to this plant; but it appears upon Humboldt's authority to be theproduce of Bowdichia, which see in Fabaceae.CATURUS.Flowers dioecious. $ . Calyx 3-fid. Stamens 3. y .Calyx 3-parted. Styles 3, lacerated. Capsule 3-coccous. A.de J.382. C. spiciflorus Linn. Mant. 127. Roxb.fi. ind. iii. 760.Acalypha hispidaBurm. ind. t. 61. f. 1. (Rumph.iv. t. 37. ff.1.2.) East Indies.A shrub. Leaves on long stalks, cordate, serrate. Flowers axillary,spiked, pendulous, longer than the leaves. Flowers said to be a specificin diarrhoea and similar disorders : boiled in water or administeredin the form of a conserve.ACALYPHA.Flowers monoecious or dioecious. $ Calyx 4-parted, stamens8-16; cells of the anther distinct, vermiculate. ?.Calyx 3-parted. Styles 3, lacerated. Capsule 3-coccous.A.deJ.383. A. indica Linn. sp. pi. 1424. Willd. sp. piiv. 525.Roxb.fi. ind. iii. 675. Cupameni Rheede 10. t. 81. and 83.A common annual in gardens in India.Stem 1-2 feet high, round, smooth, branched. Leaves stalked,ovate-cordate, 3-nerved, serrate, smooth, 2 x 1 inches ; petioles as longas leaves ; stipules small, subulate. Spikes axillary, usually solitary,stalked, erect, as long as the leaves, many-flowered, crowned with abody in the form of a cross. Male flowers numerous, crowded roundthe upper part of the spike. Sepals 4, cordate. Filaments numerousand very minute. Females remote, enclosed in a cup-shaped involucre,which has an opening on the inner side and is striated, smooth, toothed,2^t-flowered. Sepals 3. Root bruised in hot water cathartic. Decoctionof leaves laxative.187