Parkia Roxburghii, G. Don. (P. brunonis, Grah.; P. biglobosa, Benth.; Mimosa peregrina, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Kopag̃, Tag.
Uses.—The fruit is edible. Its pulp is golden yellow with a sweetish taste and an odor like that of violets.
The roasted seeds are used in certain parts of Africa to make an infusion like coffee, for which reason they have been called “Soudan Coffee.”
The pulp was analyzed by Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen in 1887; it contains 60% of its weight of sugar (a mixture of dextrose and levulose), 0.98% of free tartaric and citric acids, fats, albuminoids, etc.
Botanical Description.—A large tree of the first order. Leaves opposite, twice abruptly pinnate. Leaflets small, linear, more than 40 pairs. Principal petiole with one glandule at the base and often another higher up. Calyx long, tubular, with 5 unequal lobules. Corolla, 5 equal petals. Stamens 10, monadelphous. Ovary free, unilocular, multi-ovulate. Pod, 1° × 1′, woody, much compressed, brown, with many seeds embedded in a yellow pulp.
Habitat.—Abounds in the provinces of central Luzon. Blooms in December.
Acacia Farnesiana, Willd. (A. Indica, Desv.; Mimosa Farnesiana, L. and Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Aroma, Sp.; Cassie Flower, Eng.
Uses.—The trunk bark is astringent and in decoction is of use in the treatment of prolapsed rectum and as an injection for leucorrhœa. A poultice of the tender leaves is applied to ulcers and sores previously washed with the decoction.