Uses.—From the seeds of the fruit there exudes a yellowish-green oil, bitter and aromatic. It is used in some districts for illuminating purposes. Its density is 0.942 and its point of solidification 5° above zero. In India it is used by inunction in rheumatism and in the Philippines locally over the stomach in indigestion and colic. The bark of the tree when incised exudes a green resin of a very agreeable odor, which is used as an application to wounds and old sores. In India it is used in the same way. This resin is fusible and dissolves completely in alcohol. It has been mistaken for the tacamahaca of India, which, however, is a product of the C. calaba, L. Mixed with equal parts of pitch and wax it is applied to the chest as a plaster in bronchitis. A decoction of the leaves is used for purulent ophthalmia in some parts of India and Mauritius. The pounded bark is applied locally in orchitis and epididymitis. We have had occasion to use a mixture of equal parts of the resin with white vaseline spread on linen and applied between the shoulder blades; in the persistent cough of senile bronchitis the relief was marked.
Botanical Description.—A large tree with beautiful, dark green leaves 4–5′ long, opposite, entire, large, oval with nerves numerous, fine and perpendicular to the midrib. Petioles very short. Flowers large, white, sweet-scented, axillary, in racemes of 7–9. Calyx white, of 4 sepals. Corolla white, of 4 petals. Stamens numerous, polyadelphous. Ovary rudimentary in the male flower; unilocular and uniovulate in the female. Style single and large. Drupe superior, with a hard, bony pit, containing a thicker, softer substance which envelopes a seed of like consistency.
Habitat.—It is found in central Luzon and in the Provinces of Tayabas, La Union and Ilocos. Blooms in November.
Mesua ferrea, L. (Calophyllum apetalum, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Malabukbuk (?), Tag.
Uses.—We do not know to what use the Filipinos put this plant, but in India the sweet flowers are dried and sold in the bazars under the name of Nag-Kasar or Nagesur, which is used as a mild stimulant, but especially as a perfume.
A dark oil is expressed from the seeds, its density 0.954 and its solidifying point 5° above zero. In northern Canara it is used locally in rheumatism. The incised root bark exudes a resinous sap which is a good bitter tonic. The infusion of the wood is equally good. The dried flowers, finely powdered and mixed with oil or lard make a useful ointment for acute hemorrhoids. The fruit is acrid and purgative.
Botanical Description.—A tree with leaves long-petioled, oblong, lanceolate, acuminate, rounded at the base, thick, coriaceous, upper surface lustrous, lower surface greenish or covered with a waxy, ash-colored powder. Flowers terminal or axillary, solitary, yellowish. Calyx 4 imbricated sepals, orbiculate, slightly pubescent. Corolla 4 persistent petals, wedge-shaped, short, with rounded points. Stamens indefinite, free, in 5–6 series. Ovary free, 2-celled, each cell containing 2 ovules. Style bilobed. Fruit nearly unilocular, ovate, acuminate, encompassed at its base by the sepals, the lower part of the petals, and crowned by the style. Pericarp woody, dehiscent at the tip by 2–4 valves; contains 1–4 seeds, slightly orbiculate, coriaceous.
Habitat.—Common in the forests.