ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY-
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that is to say, about one-tenth. Linnasus defined 785 out of 8500; in 1809 we reckoned 2800 Compositae out of 27,000 species; DeCandolIe, in 1838, described 8525, again about the tenth of the vegetable kingdom; and now, when the estimate has reached 95,000 species, we find the Compositae amount to 9500.
Properties and Uses. These, when viewed in relation to the magnitude of the family, disappoint our expectations, and may be stated generally as being comparatively of in- ferior importance, while, as regards the Indian Flora, they are of very secondary note. Some are used as esculents, several are used in the arts, and a good many have attained some repute in medicine, but not one of the latter category even remotely approach, in their properties, the valuable qualities of the Cinchonas and many others met with in most other large families; and I believe I am correct in stating that, out of the whole 10,000 species included within the limits of this order, there is not one in current use in medi- cal practice, for which substitutes generally equal to, or better than the original, cannot be readily obtained.
I shall however glance at a few of the principal articles appertaining to each of these heads. To treat the subject methodically, the proper plan would be to consider them under the leading Botanical divisions or sub-orders, but I apprehend the other will be esteemed the more convenient, as demanding from the reader a smaller amount of Botani- cal knowledge.
Esculents. Under this head we find several used as salads, substitutes for Spinach, and a few esculent roots. Among the first is the well known and justly appreciated Lettuce, Lactuca sativea, and Endive, Cichorium Endiviva, and Intybus ; also the young and tender leaves of Swine's thistle, Sonchus oleraceus, and Pieridium sativum. The young leaves of Swine's thistle, boiled, are also esteemed a good substitute for Spinach ; so are those of Spilanthes oleracea, an Indian plant of easy cultivation, but the good qualities of which we have not yet learned to appreciate. The Artichoke and Cardoon, Cinera scolemus and Cardunculus, are both well known, the former prized for its flower-heads before expansion — the fleshy bases of its involucre leaves and receptacle being the part used, the latter for the delicate, aspargus-like foot stalks of its leaves, when nicely blanched.
Among those cultivated for their roots, the Salsafy, Tragopogon porrifolius, merits prominent notice ; their flavour is peculiar, but I believe, to most tastes, very agreeable. Scorzonera deliciosa is another of the same kind ; they are cultivated like carrots or parsnips. Those of the Jerusalem Artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus, a species of Sun-flower, is also in repute, and has the advantage of being easily cultivated on the plains of India, which the others have not. On the Continent of Europe the Succory and Endive are largely cultivated for their roots, which are taken up in autumn, dried, roasted and powdered like coffee, for which they are sometimes used as a substitute, but oftener to adulterate that favourite beverage. Some persons even go so far as to assert that French coffee owes its superior flavour to that admixture.
Arts. Those used in the arts are not numerous. The seeds of several yield a bland oil, those for example of the Sun-flower, Madia sativa, and in this country the Ramtil, Guezotia oleifera, is in Mysore largely cultivated as an oil plant. In Chili and in Europe, the Madia is cultivated for the same purpose, and yields, as compared with Linseed, in the proportion of 32 to 2J, while its cake is good feeding for cattle. It seems therefore a desirable plant for India. The petals of Carthamus tinctorius, yield a deep-yellow dye, much used in China for dying silk, and is cultivated in India for them, but I believe the seed are also pressed for oil. When used as a dye, the petals are infused in an alka- line solution, and afterwards treated with a vegetable acid. They are also prepared and used as a substitute for Saffron. The Polish Jews are said to be so fond of that pre- paration that they mix it with their bread and most other viands, and in England the lower orders mix it with their puddings. The corolla of the Dahlia furnishes a beautiful carmine, and Eclipla erecta, an Indian plant, found also in Brazil, stains black the hair of the Brazilian women.
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