Flora Medica

BIGNONIACE^E.Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 282.CATALPA.Calyx 2-parted. Corolla campanulate, with a ventricose tube,and a 4-lobed unequal limb. Stamens 5, of which 3 are sterile.Stigma of 2 plates. Capsule siliquose, 2-valved, with a loculicidaldehiscence. Seeds with a lacerated fringed membraneat each end.1037. C. syringifolia Sims Bot. t.Mag. 1094. C. cordifoliaElliott bot. of Car. i. 24. Bignonia Catalpa Linn. sp. pi. 868.Southern States of the American Union.A tree with a round spreading head, growing from 30 to 40 feet high.Leaves in threes, very broad, acuminate, cordate, smooth above, downybeneath ;with a petiole 6 inches long. Panicle large, pyramidal, a footlong. Segments of the calyx, obovate, concave, mucronate, permanent.Corolla large, white ;the tube campanulate, veined with purple andspotted with yellow inside limb; unequal, 5-lobed, with crenated lobes.The 2 fertile stamens as long as the corolla. Capsule cylindrical, abovea foot long.A decoction of the pods is used in Italy as a remedy forcatarrhal dyspnoea and coughs. Gard. Mag. xiii. 524. According toKaempfer a nearly allied species, or perhaps the same, found in Japan hasextremely bitter leaves and bark, and a decoction of the pods is employedin asthmatic complaints ;the leaves are also used for fomentations.1038. Bignonia antisyphilitica, Mart.The bark of the younger branches of this tree is considered in Brazilone of the most powerful remedies against syphilitic swellings, whichare of a malignant character. The decoction is chiefly used, and alsothe bark dried and pounded, externally.PEDALIACE^E.Nat. syst. ed.2. p. 281.1038 a. Sesamum have indi-"| mucilaginous leaves, and thecum Linn. Iseeds, like linseed, yield a mucila-1038 b. Pedalium Mujginous meal used in India for poulrexLinn.J tices.499 K K 2