Flora Medica

A mere bush. Leaves evergreen, equally pinnate. Leaflets 8-12usually alternate, with the exception of the 2 upper which are opposite,oval, lanceolate, obtuse, often mucronate, entire and perfectly smooth.Flowers very small, in axillary panicles, similar to those of the otherspecies. Fruits very small, pea-shaped, reddish when ripe. The sweet,fragrant stimulant resin called Mastich is obtained from the trunk byincisions made in the month of August. It is used to strengthen andpreserve the teeth, in old obstinate gleet, chronic diarrhoea, &c.COMOCLADIA.Flowers $ or monoecious. Calyx 3-4-parted, permanent. Petals3-4, long, larger. Stamens 3-4, short. Ovary 1. Style 0.Stigma 1. Drupe ovate, 1-celled, 1-seeded. Seed somewhatpendulous from a curved funiculus originating at the base ofthe cavity. Albumen 0. DC,598 a. C. dentata Jacq. amer. xiii. t. 173. f. 4. DC. prodr.ii. 65. Cuba and St. Domingo. (Guao.)A tree. Stem erect, not much branched. Leaves pinnated, shiningand green above; with a round rachis 6 inches long; leaflets 6-10 oneach side, with an odd one, oblong, acuminate, spiny-toothed, veiny anddowny at the back. Juice milky, glutinous, becoming blackby exposure to the air, staining the linen or the skin of the same colour,only coming off with the skin itself, and not removable from linenby washing, even if repeated for many years successively. It is supposedby the natives of Cuba, that it is death to sleep beneath its shade, especiallyfor persons of a sanguine or fat habit of body. This is firmlybelieved, and there can be no doubt that it is the most dangerous plantupon the Island.289