Flora Medica

CYNANCHUM.JO-cleft, about as long as the corolla. Stigma pointed, emarginate.Wight. Yields an excellent Caoutchouc, at Penang, according toDr. Wallich.1151. C. Argel Delik descr. de t.VEgypte 20. f. 2. Neesand Eb. pi. med. suppl. ? ? C. oleaefolium Neetoux voy. t. 3.Upper Egypt.Stems erect, pallid, round. Leaves scarcely stalked, about an inchlong, ovate-lanceolate, acute, smooth on each side and rather wrinkled,glaucous on the under side. Corymbs small, axillary, with many smoothalternate branches. Sepals lanceolate. Corolla white, but little longerthan the calyx. The leaves and whole plant powerfully purgative, andeven drastic. The former are mixed very largely with Senna, butwhether intentionally or through carelessness does not appear ; theyform the bulk of many samples of Alexandrian Senna; but do not occurin those from Tinnivelly. Gvmphocarpusfruticosus, also called Argel orArghel, in Syria, is occasionally employed for the same purpose. If itwere for no other reason than its being free from Argel leaves, theTinnivelly Senna ought to be preferred for medical use for;there isno doubt that the griping and unpleasant effects of common Senna areattributable to their presence.SARCOSTEMMA.Corolla rotate. Coronet of stamens double ; the exterior cupshaped,or annular, crenated ; the interior 5 -leaved, longer thanthe outer, with fleshy segments. Anthers terminated by a membrane.Pollen-masses fixed by the point, pendulous. Stigmanearly blunt. Follicles slender, smooth. Seeds comose. RBr.1152. S. glaucum HBK. n. g. and sp. pi. iii. 194. t. 229.Near the port of La Guayra, Mayqueties and Cabo Blanco, onthe coast of the Caribean sea.A lactescent, smooth, twining, herbaceous plant. Leaves lanceolate,short-stalked, slightly revolute, membranous, veiny, with the midribprominent on the under side, which is glaucous. Umbels many-flowered,between the petioles, on a very long peduncle. Flowers the sizeof those of Ascl. syriaca. Segments of the calyx lanceolate, acuminate,ciliated. Corolla white with a large, fleshy, wavy, annular coronet ;segments of the corolla fringed, spreading.as an emetic, in room of Ipecacuanha.Employed in VenezuelaHEMIDESMUS.Corolla rotate, with 5 pointless scales inserted below the sinuses.Filaments connate at the base ; distinct at the upperend, inserted into the tube of the corolla; anthers cohering separatefrom the stigma, beardless, simple at the point. Pollenmasses20, granular, attached in fours to a solitary reniformappendage of each corpuscule. Stigma flattish, pointless. Folliclescylindrical, very much divaricating, smooth. Seeds comose.W. and A.1153. H. indicus RBr. in hort. Kew. ii. 75. Wight and Am.543