CRUCIFEROUS TRIBE.
1263
'P* C|
etto,
la p«a«A
Tlie’rcf t0 ’ n ^ use ^ * n water.
w.
It yielded Pelletier five per cent, of emetine. The dose of it, as an
•"nils
‘ rootProperties.
Order 76. Cista'cea:, Lindley. —The Rock-Rose Tribe.
Cisti, Jussieu, CistoidEjB, Ventenat. Cistine,®, Decandolle,
^ r °'vin™ U ^_ s ^ a P ce called Ladanum is a resinous exudation from the Cistus creticus r
as its name implies, in Crete. In the time of Dioscorides it was collected
r 7 f » • . a.l__ 1_1- /♦ .1
T'he
,G - 235.
Fig. 236.
lstus creticus.
Ladanum Whip.
by combing- the beards of the goatswhich browse on the plant. Accord-ing to Tournefort ( Voy. into the Le-vant, i. 79, 1741) and Sieber, it isnow collected by a kind of whip orrake, with a double row of leathernthongs. With this the countrymenbrush the plants, and when the whipsare sufficiently laden with the juice,it is scraped off by knives, and madeinto cakes. Pure ladanum consists ofresin and volatile oil 86, wax 7, aque-ous extract 1, and earthy matters andhairs 6 (Guibourt). Pelletier found72 per cent, of sand in it. It possessesstimulant properties, and was for-merly a constituent of some plasters.Its use is now obsolete.
°RD
ER 77.
Crucif'era:, Jussieu. —The Cabbage or CruciferousTribe.
H,
Brassicace*, Lindley.
uous cruciate. Petals four, cruciate, alter-atcr al " lMe sepals. Stamens six, of which two are shorter, solitary, opposite thef '° r ai f Cpals > and occasionally toothed ; and four larger, in pairs, opposite the ante-tootij Posterior sepals, generally distinct, sometimes connate, or furnished with a° n the inside, Dish with various green glands between the petals and the* to. stamens and ovary. Ovary superior, unilocular, with parietal pla-
centa 5 usually meeting in the middle, and forming a spurious dissepi-ment. Stigmas two, opposite the placentae. Fruit a silique or silicule,one-celled, or spuriously two-celled; one- or many-seeded; dehiscingby two valves separating from the replum; or indehiscent. Seedsattached in a single row' by a funiculus to each side of the placentae,generally pendulous. Albumen none. Embryo with the radicle foldedupon the cotyledons.— Herbaceous plants, annual, biennial, or peren-nial, very seldom suffruticose. Leaves alternate. Flowers usually,, ■-» ii yellow or white, seldom purple {Lindley).
RQa ^ >roperties '—Pungent stimuli. They furnish nutritive, condimentary,
and antiscorbutic substances. Their pungency depends on an acridvolatile oil, composed of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, sulphur, and oxygen.This oil becomes absorbed, and in some cases is detectable in the secre-tions. The nutritive properties of crucifer* arise from their mucilagi-nous, saccharine, and extractive constituents. Cakile maritima is pur-gative. Cheiranthus lividus is said to be dangerous to goats; whileLepidium piscidium we are told stupefies fish. These statements,ho wever, require further proof. With these doubtful exceptions noneof the crucifer* are poisonous.