358. PSIDIUM CATTLEYANUM.--This is the purple guava from China. The fruits are filled with juicy, pale flesh, of a very agreeable acid-sweet flavor.
359. PSIDIUM PYRIFERUM.--The West Indian guava, a well-known fruit in the tropics, but only known here in the shape of guava jelly. The wood of the tree has a fine, close grain, and has been experimented with as a substitute for boxwood for engraving purposes, but it is too soft to stand the pressure of printing.
360. PSYCHOTRIA LEUCANTHA.--A plant belonging to the cinchona family. Emetic properties are assigned to the roots, which are also used in dyeing. Native of Peru.
361. PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM.--This tree affords gum-kino, which is obtained by making incisions in the bark, from which the juice exudes and hardens into a brittle mass, easily broken into small angular, shining fragments of a bright ruby color. It is highly astringent. The wood is hard and valuable for manufacturing purposes.
362. PUNICA GRANATUM.--The pomegranate, a native of northern Africa and western Asia. The fruit is valued in warm countries on account of its delicious cooling and refreshing pulp. Numerous varieties are grown, some being sweet and vinous, and others acid or of a bitter, stringent taste; the color also varies from light to dark red. The bark of the root abounds in a peculiar principle called _punicin_. This bark appears to have been known to the ancients, and used by them as a vermifuge, and is still used in Hindostan as a specific against tapeworm. The rind of the fruit of the bitter varieties contains a large amount of tannin, and is used for tanning morocco leather. The flowers yield a red dye.
363. QUASSIA AMARA.--The wood of this plant furnishes Surinam quassia. It is destitute of smell, but has an intensely bitter taste, and is used as a tonic. The root has also reputed medicinal value, as also have the flowers.
364. QUILLAJA SAPONARIA.--The Quillai or Cully of the Chilians. Its bark is called soap-bark, and is rough and dark-colored externally, but internally consists of numerous regular whitish or yellowish layers, and contains a large quantity of carbonate of lime and other mineral matters. It is also rich in _saponine_, and is used for washing clothes; 2 ounces of the bark is sufficient to wash a dress. It also removes all spots or stains, and imparts a fine luster to wool; when powdered and rubbed between the hands in water, it makes a foam like soap. It is to be found in commerce.