Flora Medica

FABACEJE, OR LEGUMINOS^.Leaflets 8-9 pairs, elliptical-oblong. Flowers appearing before theleaves. The violet flowers are reckoned poisonous. Schomburgh inLinnoEa, ix. 512.AGATI.Calyx campanulate, slightly 2-lipped upper ;lip with 2, underwith 3 short obtuse broad teeth. Corolla papilionaceous. Vexillumoval, oblong, shorter than the oblong alae : keel large,falcate,obtusely acuminated, its petals free at the base and apex.Stamens diadelphous (9 and 1), slightly protruded: sheath withlarge auricles at the base. Style filiform. Legume attenuatedat the base into a stalk, linear, elongated, a little compressed,many-seeded, much contracted between the seeds, but notjointed. Seeds separated by cellular partitions. W. and A.507. A. grandiflora Desv. journ. bot. iii. 120. DC. prodr.ii. 266. W. and A. i. 215. ^Eschynomene grandiflora Linn.sp.pl. 1050. Coronilla grandiflora Willd. iii. 1145. Sesbanagrandiflora Pers. syn. ii. 316. (Rheede i. t. 51. Rumph. i. t. 76).Common in all the hot parts of India*.A small tree of rapid growth and short duration. Stipules lanceolate.Leaves abruptly pinnated ; leafletsmany pairs. Racemes axillary,24-flowered. Flowers very large. Legumes pendulous, upwards of a footlong. Bark powerfully bitter and tonic.PISCIDIA.Calyx campanulate, 5-fid. Keel obtuse. Stamens monadelphous,with the tenth free at the base. Style filiform, smooth.Legume stipitate, linear, furnished with 4 longitudinal membranouswings, interrupted by contractions between the seeds.Seeds oval, compressed: hilum lateral ;embryo curved ;radiclebent down upon the cotyledons.508. P. Erythrina Linn. sp. 993. Jacq. amer. 206. Swartz.o65.277. HBK.vi.382. D C. prodr.ii. 267. Macfady.jam.i. 258. Erythrina piscipula Linn. sp. ed. 1. 107. (Sloane ii.t. 176. f. 4 and 5. Lam. illustr. t. 605. f.A.) _ Spanish Main,West Indies, common. (Jamaica Dogwood.)A tree about 20 feet high. Leaflets 3-4 pairs, with an odd one,oblong or obovate, rounded at the base, downy on both sides whenyoung, but smooth when old. Racemes compound, axillary and terminal,with a 3-cornered downy stalk. Flowers whitish, tinged withpurple, a little earlier than the leaves, with 2 oblong scarious deciduousbracts about the middle of each stalk. Calyx minutelydowny. Vexillum emarginate, greenish in the middle. Stipe of thelegume much longer than the calyx ; its wings undulated and irregularlylacerated. Tincture of the bark most powerfully and remarkably narcoticand diaphoretic. A specificin the removal of pain produced bycarious teeth. Bark astringent and irritating. See Dr. Hamilton inBurnett's outlines p. 684 for an account of this very energetic plant ;the bark of whose root is a common fish-poison in Jamaica.246