Acacia is a genus of plants of the family Leguminosae sub-family Mimoseae consisting of trees or shrubs with compoundpinnate leaves. They grow in Africa, Arabia, Australia and the East Indies. The flowers, usually small, are arranged in spikes or globular heads at the axils of the leaves near the extremity of the branches. The corolla is bell or funnel shaped; stamens are numerous; the fruit is a dry unjointed pod. Several of the species yield gum-arabic and other gums; some have astringent barks and pods, used in tanning. Acacia Catechu, an Indian species, yields the valuable astringent called catechu; Acacia dealbata the wattle-tree of Australia, from five to ten metres in height, is the most beautiful and useful of the species found there. Its bark contains a large percentage of tannin, and is hence exported. Some species yield valuable timber; some are cultivated for the beauty of their flowers. Research Acacia
Albizzia is a genus of leguminous trees and shrubs, allied to the genusAcacia, with doubly-pinnate leaves and white, yellow, or red flowers, often in globular heads, and broad, straight, flat pods. They number over fifty species, and inhabit tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Australia. Albizzia lopkanta, a native of south-western Australia, has a bark that contains tannin. Albizzia Lebbek, a. native of Asia and Africa, yields valuable timber, and in Egypt is much cultivated as a shade tree. Albizzia Julibrissin, a tree with rose-red flowers, is found in Asia and Africa, and has been introduced into Southern Europe. Research Albizzia
Arnica is a genus of plants of the natural order Compositae, consisting of some twelve species, one of which is found in Central Europe, Arnica montana (leopard's bane or mountain tobacco), but is not a native of Britain. It has a perennialroot, a stem about 60 cm high, bearing on the summit flowers of a bright-yellow colour. In every part of the plant there is an acrid resin and a volatile oil, and in the flowers an acrid bitter principle called arnicin. The root contains also a considerable quantity of tannin. A tincture of it is employed as an external application to wounds and bruises. Research Arnica
Common bistort (Polygonum Bistorta), adder's-wort or snakeroot, is a perennialherb of the buckwheat family, family Polygonaceae, found in Britain. It has a stout, snake-like twisted rhizome and an erect, unbranched stem. The basalovate to lanceolate leaves with undulate margins and winged petioles are arranged in a rosette. The smaller stem leaves are triangular, sessile and clasp the stem. The flowers are pink in colour, and arranged in a dense terminal spike. The fruit is a three-sided achene surrounded by a persistent perianth.
Common bistort contains a lot of tannin, which gives it astringent properties and led to its use in medicine. The young leaves can be eaten in salads or cooked like spinach and the root is edible after it has been soaked and roasted. In northern England it is commonly called Easter Giant and around Manchester it is called Patience Dock. Research Bistort
The Catalpa is a genus of plants of the family Bignoniaceae. They are trees with simple leaves and large, gay, trumpet shaped flowers. Catalpa springifolia, a North American species, is well adapted for large shrubberies, and has been introduced into England and other parts of Europe. Catalpa longissima contains much tannin in its bark, and is known in the West Indies by the name of French oak. Research Catalpa
A gall (also known as a gall-nut or nut-gall) is a growth caused on plants of various kinds by parasitic mites (Phytoptidae). The galls of commerce are produced by a species of Cynips (Gall-fly) in the tender shoots of the Quercus infectoria, a species of oak abundant in Asia Minor, Syria, Iraq, etc. They are spherical and tubercular, and vary in magnitude from the size of a pea to that of a hazel-nut. White, green, and blue varieties are recognized, the latter kinds being the best. They are inodorous, but are strongly astringent from the tannin and gallic acid which they contain, and which are their chief products. Gall-nuts were extensively used in dyeing and in the manufacture of ink, and they were also frequently used in medicine. They were chiefly imported from Aleppo, Tripoli, and Smyrna. The Chinese galls, or woo-pei-tsze, differ from the foregoing in that they are really an unusually massive kind of crust or cocoon, such as the aphides form on the surface of a plant; the tissues of the plant are not affected. After the opening of the Japanese ports these were imported in considerable quantities to Britain. Research Gall
Abbreviations
Research Acacia
