Part 8

Habitat.--Blanco has seen the plant growing in Ilocos and Imus.

BIXINEÆ.

Bixa Orellana, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Atsuiti, Achuiti, Tag.; Achiote, Achuete, Sp.-Fil.; Annatto, Eng.

Uses.--The principal use of the seeds is in cookery and everybody knows the yellow color which Filipino cooks impart to almost all their dishes. In medicine the fine powder that covers the seeds is used as a hæmostatic and internally as a stomachic. On account of the astringent qualities of the coloring matter it is used in some countries to treat dysentery, a fact which suggests its possible therapeutic or rather hygienic usefulness as a condiment. It seems to effect a cure in dysentery in the same manner as ipecac.

In India, Brazil and the Antilles the natives make a sort of paste of achuete known under the name of rocu. There is a hard, odorless form of rocu and another soft, unctuous, of a delicate red color and an odor rendered highly disagreeable by the urine added to it to keep it soft. Rocu is the preparation of achuete that has been subjected to chemical analysis. Its composition is as follows: Two coloring matters, bixin (C28H34O5), of a red color, resinous, soluble in alcohol, ether, alkaline solutions and benzine, crystallizing in microscopic laminæ, quadrangular, red, of a metallic violet lustre; orellin, yellow in color, soluble in alcohol and in water.

Botanical Description.--A well-known tree growing to a height of 5-7 meters, with leaves alternate, simple, oval, heart-shaped at the base, sharply pointed, glabrous, short petioles. Flowers in panicles. Calyx, 5 rounded sepals, tuberculate at the base, imbricated, caducous. Corolla of 5 rose-colored petals. Stamens very numerous, free, inserted on the receptacle. Capsule round, dark red, bristling with stout hairs of the same color. The seeds are covered with a fine, yellowish-red powder.

Pangium edule, Reinw. (Hydonocarpus polyandra, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Pangi, Tag.

Uses.--All parts of this tree are anthelmintic. The seeds, fruit, leaves and bark all possess narcotic properties dangerous to man and the symptoms following an excessive dose are sleepiness, headache, a sort of intoxication or an attack of delirium that may end in death. These narcotic properties have been utilized in Java to stupefy the fish in the rivers by throwing the bark in the pools and quiet portions of the stream. The juice of the leaves is used in the treatment of chronic skin diseases. In Amboina the natives eat the seeds, the toxic quality of which is removed by brushing and macerating in pure water for a certain time. After such treatment they may be eaten with impunity and an oil may be extracted from them which is useful as a food.

Botanical Description.--A tree with leaves 5' long, alternate, ovate, broad, entire, glabrous, palmately nerved. Petiole long with 2 persistent lateral stipules. Flowers dioecious, the male ones in panicles, the female solitary. Calyx gamosepalous, dividing unequally when the flower opens. The male flower has a corolla of 5-7 petals, violet-colored, concave, half oval, with pubescent borders; at its base a flat scale. Stamens free, numerous, thick filaments, anthers bilocular. In the female flower the perianth is the same as in the former, the stamens sterile. Ovary unilocular, with 2-4 parietal placentæ with many ovules. Fruit as large as a man's head, with thin woody pericarp and many seeds embedded within its pulp.

PORTULACACEÆ.

Purslane Family.

Portulaca oleracea, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Verdolagas, Sp.; Olasiman, Kolasiman, Tag.; Purslane, Eng.

Uses.--The entire plant is edible, in the form of a salad or as a condiment with meat or fish. The leaves are succulent and acid, and the juice expressed from them is used as an eyewash to remove corneal opacities; it is also used in superficial erysipelas and other skin affections. The bruised leaves are used as a poultice for abscesses, contusions and on the temples for headache. The juice is given internally to check hæmoptysis and in diseases of the lungs and bladder; the seeds also are used in these complaints.

Botanical Description.--A plant with prostrate stem. Leaves fleshy, wedge-shaped. Flowers small, sessile, terminal, pale yellow. Calyx of 2 large teeth, deciduous. Corolla, 4-5 petals with a notch at the end. Stamens 9-14. Style of equal length with the stamens. Stigma in 4-6 divisions. The seed vessel, which dehisces horizontally, contains many small, heart-shaped seeds.

Habitat.--It grows in all parts of the islands.

GUTTIFERÆ.

Gamboge Family.

Garcinia mangostana, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Mangostán, Sp.; Mangosteen, Eng.

Uses.--The seed of the fruit is astringent and is given internally as an infusion in dysentery and chronic diarrhoea. The decoction is very useful as an injection in leucorrhoea.

The following potion has given excellent results to Dr. Ed. J. Waring in chronic dysentery and the diarrhoeas of tropical countries:

Dried peel of mangosteen 60 grams. Cumin seed 5 grams. Coriander 5 grams. Water 1,200 grams.

Boil till reduced to 600 grams. Take 120 grams twice a day. Tincture of opium may be added.

An analysis of mangosteen peel by W. Schmidt demonstrated a large quantity of tannin, a resin and a crystallizable principle named mangostin (C20H23O5) which exists in the form of fine, golden yellow laminæ, tasteless, soluble in alcohol, ether and the alkalies, insoluble in water. With the perchloride of iron it gives a blackish-green color, and sulphuric acid colors it red.

Botanical Description.--The mangosteen grows only in the southern islands of the Archipelago and its delicious fruit is the part of the plant known in Manila. The peel is at the present time almost universally employed in medicine. The fruit is about the size of a small Manila orange, the pericarp a dark red or chocolate color, tough and thick, crowned with the remains of the calyx. On breaking it open the edible portion of the fruit is seen, consisting of 6-18 seeds covered by a white, sweet pulp, cottony in appearance, of a delicious slightly acrid flavor.