Flora Medica

URTICACE^E.619. M. nigra Linn. sp. pi 1398. Wittd. iv. 369. Woodv.t. 243. Mop to, % o-vKa/juvta., Dioscor. Persia ;whence it hasbeen carried to other parts of the world. (Mulberry.)A small tree, with a very rugged bark. Young shoots downy, round.Leaves roundish-cordate, pubescent, coarsely serrated, rough to thetouch, slightly acuminate; stipules oblong, membranous, downy, thelength of the petiole or longer, deciduous. Fruit oblong, changingfrom red to deep purple, succulent, subacid, juicy and pleasant.Fruit cooling and laxative ;when not too ripe allays thirst and provesexceedingly grateful in febrile diseases. When eaten too freelyas ,anarticle of food, it is apt to occasion diarrhoea. Thomson. Bark said tobe cathartic and anthelmintic.620. M. alba Linn. sp. pi 1398. China and Persia.Leaves deeply cordate, unequal at the base, ovate or lobed, unequallyserrated, nearly smooth. Root said to be an excellent vermifuge.DORSTENIA.Monoecious; flowers arranged upon a fleshy receptacle usuallyflat and expanded and extremely variable in form. $ . on thesurface of the receptacle 2-lobed, fleshy, diandrous. J immersedin the receptacle, also 2-lobed in most species. Ovary1-2-celled, with a single suspended ovule in each cell ;style 1 ;stigma 2-lobed. Achenia lenticular, imbedded in the fleshyreceptacle from which ;they are projected with elasticitywhenripe.Dwarf herbaceous plants with scaly rhizomata.Under the name of Contrayerba or Contrayerva there is importedfrom the West Indies an officinal root, which has stimulantsudorific and tonic qualities. It is used in malignant eruptive diseases,dysentery, some kinds of diarrhoea, atonic gout, chronic rheumatismand the'fever attending dentition in weak infants. According to thelast edition of the London Pharmacopoeia this drug is produced byDorstenia Contrayerva ;Dr. Houston however asserted that it camefrom D. Houstoni and another species referred by Botanists toD. Drakena. Guibourt says there are two kinds, one furnished byD. brasiliensis, and the other by D. Contrayerva, D. Houstoni andD. Drakena. Finally Dr. Theodore Martius refers the drug to D. brasiliensis,Contrayerva, Houstoni, and an undescribed species which hecalls D. opifera, a sort which is more farinaceous than the others.The only conclusion from all which is I think that Contrayerva is producedby several species.621. D. Contrayerva Linn. mat. med. 53. Willd. i. 683.Blackio. t. 579. Jacq. ic. iii. t. 614. New Spain, Mexico, Peru,Tobago, St. Vincent's, Willd.Caulescent ;stem covered with spreading green scaly stipules. Leavespalmate; the lobes lanceolate, acuminate, coarsely serrated and gashed,occasionally almost pinnatifid. Receptacle on avery long stalk, quadrangular,wavy or plaited.622. D. brasiliensis Lam. encyclii. 314. Willd. i. 682.D. cordifolia Swartz.fi.ind. occ. 275. Willd. \. c. D. tubicina300