This is a fruit-bearing and sarmentose plant; its leaves yield, by boiling, a red dye, which can be made a fixed dye upon cotton cloth, by means of preparations analogous to those which are made for madder.
Umari, Geoffroya spinosa:—Jacq. Stirp. Americ.
This plant, which Jacquim found at Carthagena in the sandy lands near to the coast, grows at Pernambuco upon argillaceous low lands, upon which it arrives at 30 or 40 feet in height; in Carthagena, according to the same author, it does not reach more than twelve feet. The flowers are yellow, and have a smell which is similar to that of the coco-oil; those of Carthagena have a disagreeable smell. May they not be two separate species? From the almond of this plant is extracted a white and nutritive fecula, of which the inhabitants of the Rio do Peixe, and of the Sertam of Paraiba do Norte make much use. The plant grows very plentifully in the low lands of those parts, and it is also to be met with in the province of Rio Grande do Norte.
Ipecacuanha preta, Ipecacuanha officinalis:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.
Until the present time the botanists of Europe have not known to what genus this plant belongs. Some of them thought it was the euphorbia Ipecacuanha, others, that it was the psoralia glandulosa, others, the spiræa trifoliata, others the viola ipecacuanha, finally others suspected that it was the psychotria emetica; but I have observed the ipecacuanha preta very frequently when in flower, and I think that it has more affinity to the tapagomea of Aublet. However, I have given it the name of ipecacuanha, for although both are barbarous, still the latter has been used for a century and a half. The Ipecacuanha is easily cultivated, for I have made the experiment, but it requires shade, or at any rate it must not be completely exposed to the heat of the sun.
Ipecacuanha branca, Viola Ipecacuanha:—Lin. Pombalia Ipecacuanha: Vandel.
Although the root of this plant was formerly mistaken for that of the ipecacuanha preta, it is well known now to be of another description. It is much used in medicine in Pernambuco, as a gentle purgative, &c. It is easily cultivated, and delights in a moist atmosphere and a sandy soil. In the neighbourhood of the Campina Grande (of Paraiba) I have seen large pieces of ground covered with the plant. Of this species of ipecacuanha our druggists might make their syrup of viola, and our physicians might without scruple apply the flowers and calyx in place of the flowers of the viola odorata, for it promotes expectoration, and possesses stimulant qualities which strengthen the nerves.
Contra-herva, Dorstenia rotundifolia:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.
Contra-herva de folha longana, Dorstenia Pernambucana:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.
These two species of contra-herva are new, and are peculiar to Pernambuco; besides these two I have not met with any other species. But they have the same virtue as the true contra-herva of Mexico (dorstenia contra-herva), and the physicians of Pernambuco do not use any other. They are to be found in great quantities in some parts.