Order Lviii
TEREBINTHACEE. 1084 Aristotélia W.
This order is, notwithstanding the labors of several botanists, in a very confused state; from want of sufficient knowledge of many of the genera, which have been hitherto imperfectly described, it is difficult either to determine the value of the characters assigned to the tribes, or the dignity of the tribes themselves. All the species are shrubs or trees, with alternate exstipulate leaves, and inconspicuous flowers, and abound in a balsamiferous resin, which is chiefly present in the leaves and bark, and from which the denomination of the order has been derived. Notwithstanding the minuteness of their flowers, many of the species are valuable as ornamental plants, on account of the beauty of their foliage, others for the sake of their utility in arts or medicine, and others for their fruit. The walnut, the Cashew nut, and the Pistachio are valuable for their nuts, which are well known articles of the markets of Europe. The Spondias and Mango are equally famous in the tropics. The well-known balsam of Tolu is the produce of the Toluifera; the balsam of Mecca, of the Amýris gileadénsis; and balm of Acouchi, of the I'cica acuchíni; gum comes from Amýris elemífera and I'cica leptophylla; mastich from Pistácia atlántica and lentíscus; and Venetian turpentine from Pistácia terebínthus. Schínus Mólle produces a resin which in Peru is used as a dentrifice, as myrrh is with us.
Some of the best varnishes are prepared from the exudation of Amýris guianensis , Rhús vérnix, copallína , and others; the finest kinds of incense are also afforded by plants of this order, such as the wood and resin of the different species of I'cica, of Amýris balsamífera, and of Canárium commúne, the Coumia, which is used in Guiana for such purposes, and finally, the Boswellia thurífera, which is the true frankincense of Indian temples. But among the fragrant and wholesome plants of which the order chiefly consists, lie concealed the order chiefly chiefly consists, lie concealed others in which acrid and poisonous qualities no less abound. Such are several pieces of Rhus, the juice of which produces blisters upon the skin, and the Amýris toxífera, the juice of which is accounted poisonous. To conclude this long list of the uses and dangers of Terebinthaceæ, the bark of Brúcea is used as an astringent in dysenteries, that of Rhus glábra as a febrifuge and as a mordant for red colors, and that of Rhus coriária as a powerful means of tanning skins of animals. It is curious to remark how strongly Terebinthace are connected with Amentaceæ through Júglans.
Tribe 1. ANACARDIEÆ. 2065 Pistácia W. 85 Comocládia 2067 Picrámnia W. 935 Anacárdium W. 513 Mangifera W.
Tribe 2.
SUMACHINEE. 681 Rhus W. 2093 Schínus W.
Tribe 3.
Tribe 3. SPONDIACE. 1059 Spóndias W.
Tribe 4. 2164 Burséra W.
Tribe 4. BURSERACE 1010 Garúga Roxb.
Tribe 5. AMYRIDEÆ. 889 Amýris W.
Tribe 6.
Tribe 6. PTELEACE. 298 Ptélea W. 529 Toddália Lam. 84 Cneórum W. 683 Spathélia W.
Tribe 7. CONNARACEAE. 1057 Cnéstis Lam. 2061 Brúcea W.
Tribe 8.
JUGLANDEE. 1999 Júglans W.
ORDER LIX. LEGUMINOSÆ.
The family to which the various kinds of pulse belong is one of the most familiar to the world, and at the same time one of the most useful to mankind. Their papilionaceous flowers characterise a large number, and their pods and pinnate leaves the remainder, with a few exceptions, which it is not necessary to particularise. As objects of ornament, many are possessed of unrivalled beauty, for example, among hardy flowering trees, the Robínia and the Labúrnum; among shrubs, for decorating the borders of the flower-garden, the various tribes the of Cýtisus, Caragána, Colutèa, Amórpha, and others among hardy climbers, the far-famed Glýcine and, ; among hardy climbers, the far-famed Glycine of China, and its sister of North America , with the species of the herbaceous genera Vícia and Láthyrus; and, lastly, among hardy herbaceous plants, the numerous species of Lupinus and Astragalus. Great, however, as is the beauty of the Leguminose which can brave the inclemencies of the seasons of Northern Europe, it must give way before the splendor and elegance of their brethren of the tropics. The flowers of the Erythrina, or Coral tree, are of the deepest crimson, and borne in profusion upon some of the loftiest trees of the forest. The Bauhinias, with their snake-like stems and twin leaves , hang in festoons of flowers from branch to branch of other trees, and are only rivalled by the less vigorous and elegant, but more richly colored blossoms the rugged and elegant, but more richly colored blossoms of the Carpopógons. But all these, with their broad heavy foliage and gaudy colors, are far surpassed by the most foliage and gaudy colors, are far surpassed by the rugged trunks, trembling airy foliage, and golden flowers of the Mimósa, which cast a charm over even of this order of the Mimosa, which cast a charm over even the most sterile deserts of burning Africa. While the forests of hot countries are thus indebted to species of this order for their timber, the meadows and pastures of the same latitudes are enamelled with the flowers myriads the same latitudes are enamelled with the flowers of myriads of Hedýsarums, and animated by the wonderful motion of sensitive plants. As in our own country, in other motion of sensitive plants. As in our own country, the gayest part of our scenery is in many places indebted to the yellow flowers of our furze and broom, so in other countries the same effect is produced by other genera of Leguminosæ; by Lipária, Borbónia, and Aspálathus, at the Cape of Good Hope, and by the Pultenæ as, Daviésias, Aótuses, and multitudes of similar genera in New Holland. The wood of the order is very hard and durable, with a yellow tinge, sometimes changing into green, as in the Labúrnum of Europe, and in the better known Brazil wood of commerce, produced by Cæsalpínia. The following useful remarks upon the properties of the order are made by M. Decandolle :- The family of leguminous plants, though established upon characters of primary importance, offers, that never- its upon characters of primary importance, offers, nevertheless, so large a number of species and such singular botanical anomalies, that it is easy to foresee that its properties will exhibit little uniformity. Still more exceptions may be anticipated if one reflects, that the chenical principle which is found most abundantly in every part of leguminous plants, and to which we must attribute their principal properties, is the extractive. It is probable that this principle, either prin- own extractive. It is probable that this principle, either from its own nature, or from its peculiar power of uniting with different matters, or perhaps instead of being a simple prinnature, ciple, it or is rather a compound of different matters it is probable, I say, that the extractive principle exhibits NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. much less uniformity in its results than any other. It is, without doubt, to the presence of the extractive principle, in considerable quantities, that many leguminous plants owe their purgative properties, which are common to several extracts, and which many chemists attribute to the acetate of potash, which they are almost universally found to contain. Thus the leaves and foliaceous pods of Cássia sénna Lin., of Cássia lanceoláta Forsk., of Cássia emargináta of the Antilles, of the Cássia marylandica employed in the United States, of Colùtea arborescens, of Spártium púrgans, and perhaps also of Coronilla émerus, act as brisk purgatives, and often cause wind and pain in the bowels. The juice of Coronilla vária excites vomiting, and may even become poisonous when taken in too large quantities. It is, perhaps, from a different cause that the pulp which is contained in the husks of leguminous plants operates upon the human body; it purges gently without causing the least pain, and ought to be considered as laxative rather than purgative. Such is the character of the juicy pulp that exists in the Cássia fístula Lin., in the Tamarindus índica Lin., in the Ceratónia siliqua Lin., and probably in the Mimósa ínga and the M. fagifólia, which are eaten in small quantities in the Antilles, but which, taken more copiously, would have the same effect as our Carobs. There are some fruits of Leguminosæ, for example, the Sophora and the Gleditschia, with tumid pods, in which is found a juice which surrounds, it is true, the seeds, as in the plants just mentioned, but which differs from them altogether in its very astringent and nauseous flavor; the nature and properties of this juice deserve to be examined by chemists, and would undoubtedly throw some light upon the nature of Leguminosæ. I am induced to think, that the astringent juice of the Sophóra is a secretion of the pericarp, whilst the sweet and purgative juice of the Cássia would be a secretion of the external part of the seed; but this hypothesis requires to be verified: what leads me to this opinion, is the flavor commonly found in husks; in the Carobs, for example, the husk is astringent, and the pulp sweet and laxative. But let us return to the properties which may be attributed to the extractive principle. It is undoubtedly from some one of these modifications that the singular property of the Piscídia and many Galegas is derived, which are employed in America to stupefy fish, which are taken by this means as readily as with Nux vomica. The decoction of the root this means as readily as with Nux vómica. The decoction of the root of Galéga virginiána is considered in indeed, to the very same cause that the rubefacient powers of the fresh leaves of some Leguminosæ are to be ascribed, which act readily upon the skin if applied as plasters Hyperanthera morínga elsewhere. It appears to me, that it is to the greater or less considerable mixture of the extractive principle with the fæcula contained in the seed, that the different properties of the pulse of leguminous plants may be attributed. If found in small quantities, the seed may serve as food for man and animals, as we see in French beans, peas, lentils, chick peas, beans, and many others, &c. If found in a more considerable quantity, it will render them purgative or emetic, as in the Cytisus labúrnum, the Anagyris fœtida, and even in most Coronillas. It is remarkable that the botanical characters of Leguminosæ should so strictly agree with the properties of their seeds: the latter may be divided into two sections; namely, first, those of which the cotyledons are thick and filled with fæcula, and destitute of cortical pores, and which, moreover, in germination do not undergo any change, but nourish the young plant by means of that supply of food which they already contain; secondly, those of which the cotyledons are thin, with very little fæcula, and furnished with cortical pores, and which change at once into leaves at the time of germination for the purpose of elaborating food for the young plant. All the seeds of the first section are employed as food in different countries; none of those of the second section are ever so employed; the Cajan, which has long been classed among the Cýtisi, was apparently an exception to this general rule; but observation has proved the contrary. Bearing in mind its known properties, I formerly paid particular attention to its structure, and I have shown in a note, which accompanies my catalogue of the Montpelier garden, that the Cajan forms a particular genus much more nearly allied to the French bean than to the Cýtisi, and that it, in fact, belongs to the first of the sections which I have just described. The seeds of Leguminosæ present also many other anomalies more difficult to reduce to any fixed laws: thus some are found which contain a rather large portion of fixed oil; such as the seed of the A'rachis hypogæ'a, lately introduced into European agriculture, and that of Guilandína morínga which produces oil of ben; there are some, of which the flavor and smell are rather powerful; as the seed of Dipterix or Coumaroúna odóra of Aublet, which, under the name of Tonquin bean, is used for perfuming snuff'; there are others which, like the chick pea, have rather a bitter taste and exciting properties, and are on that account administered for the jaundice. There are others again, like those of the Andíra, which are so bitter as to be used in Java and Brazil as tonic, alexiteric, and vermifuge. In a word, are not the aperient and diuretic properties which are observable in the herbage and the roots of many leguminous plants, such as broom, beans, Onónis, Guilandína rínga and morínga, Anthyllis crética, &c. to be attributed to a modification of this extractive principle? There are, in another view, roots which are furnished with tubercles , that is to say, with reservoirs of fæcula which furnish mankind with wholesome food, as we see in the Láthyrus tuberósus, which is eaten in Holland, the Dolichos tuberósus, and the D. bulbósus, which the Indians use as food. The roots of the liquorice have a sweet and mucilaginous taste, which is well known by every body, and which, united to an acrid and rather exciting principle, causes it to be employed as a pectoral; principle, causes it to be employed as a pectoral; the analysis of this root, published by M. Robiquet, proves of amylaceous fæcula is found as in the tuberous roots of which we have just been speaking; it is thence seen that the acrid flavor of decoctions of liquorice depends on the small quantity of resinous oil which it contains, and that its sweet properties are by no means analogous to common sugar, since it is insoluble in cold water, soluble in warm water or in alcohol, not capable of fermentation, and does not yield to the action of nitric acid any of the known products of sugar. It may here be added, that the sugary flavor of liquorice , and its other properties, are not confined to this genus; they are found equally in the roots of Trifólium alpínum, vulgarly called Mountain liquorice; in those of the A'brus precatórius, from which a pectoral draught is prepared in Hindoostan, called Velti, and in others. The barks of some trees of the leguminous class, are remarkable for their bitterness, and are used as febrifuges; the different kinds of Geoffroya possess this bitter and febrifugal quality in a remarkable degree; in India, the bark of the Æschynomene grandiflóra and of the Cæsalpinia bonducélla are employed for the same purpose. The barks of many leguminous plants are also remarkable for their astringent qualities, caused by the quantity of tannin which they are found to contain; this is observable in the Acácia Cátechu, and in the Acácia arábica, which is used for tanning leather, and elsewhere. It is well known that almost all coloring matter proceeds from the extractive principle ; and as it appears that this principle abounds in Leguminosæ, we ought to find in them a considerable number of the colors which are used by dyers: to this family, in fact, belong the principal blue colors, known by the name of indigo, extracted from every kind of Indigofera and from some Galegas; and the red colors, which are yielded by all the species of Cæsalpinia and of Hæmatóxylon. We may add the red juice, which is drawn from the Pterocarpus dráco and Santalínus, under the name of sandal and of dragon's-blood; from Erythrína monospérma, under the name of gum lac; and also from Dalbérgia monetária. These juices appear to differ in many particulars, but their history and analysis are at present so far from being known, that it is impossible to form a true estimate of the nature of their differences. But anomalies of this nature are far from being confined to the plants just mentioned. Among the exotic drugs employed in the arts they are very common : such, for example, are the balsam of Capivi, produced by the Copaífera; the balsam of Peru, which, Mutis says, is obtained from Myróxylon; the Cachou, which has been found to be almost pure tannin, and which is supposed to be produced by Acácia Cátechu; of the same character is that remarkable resin that is yielded by Hymenæ a Coúrbaril; gum Arabic, produced by the bark and roots of Acácia senegalensis, nilótica, arábica, and others; gum tragacanth obtained from Astragalus créticus, gummífera, and vérus ; and The arrangement of this tribe of plants finally, manna, secreted by Hedýsarum alhági." plants has been found to be attended with much difficulty. By Linnæus, and the writers who succeeded him, the number of genera was much smaller than those admitted by botanists of the present age; many additions have been made in consequence of the discovery of New Holland, and a large number of subdivisions in old genera have been from time to time introduced by one writer or another. To combine these scattered improvements under one uniform system has lately been attempted by the learned botanist, from whom the foregoing extract has been taken. This was not executed at the time when those parts of the present work, in which leguminous plants are found, were written; for which reason the names NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. of the suborders will not be found in the body of the work. M. Decandolle's method, however, being here adopted, it will be useful to explain the principles upon which it is founded. He divides Leguminosæ into two of founded. He divides Leguminosæ into two grand divisions, the first of which consists of plants, the radicle of whose seed is curved back upon the CURVEM- edge , the radicle of whose seed is curved back upon the edge of the cotyledons, and the second of those whose radicle and cotyledons are straight the former are and corolla and cotyledons are straight: the former are CURVEMthe latter RECTEMBRIE. In the Curvembriæ, certain diversities in the structure of the calyx and corolla again divide into two principal forms, one of which, comprehending all the genera with papilionaceous flowers, is called Papilionace, and the other, consisting of a very small number of species, with one or two petals or more, and an obscurely lobed calyx, is called Swartzieæ . The last is not subdivided, but the Papilionaceӕ resolve themselves into the two great tribes pointed out by M. Decandolle, namely, those with fleshy cotyle. dons and eatable pulse, Sarcolobæ, and those with foliaceous cotyledons and seeds which are not eatable ,