psychotria

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of gamopetalous plants of the order Rubiaceæ, type of tribe Psychotrieæ. It is characterized by corymbose or panicled flowers with a five-lobed valvate corolla, a short calyx-tube having a small five-toothed border, linear or oblong-obtuse anthers fixed by their back near the base, entire and membranaceous stipules, and a drupaceous fruit with two plano-convex nutlets. It is a vast and polymorphous genus, one of the largest among plants, containing about 425 species, all tropical and especially American. They are shrubs or small trees, rarely perennial herbs, either erect, climbing, or twining. They bear opposite entire and sometimes whorled leaves, and stipules within the petioles, often twin and united into a sheath. The small flowers are white, green, red, or yellow. Most of the species have hand some leaves, but are inconspicuous in flower. P. parasitica, a red-berried, fleshy-leafed species of the West Indies, is there known as climbmg-vine. P. daphnoides, a small evergreen, is the brushland sage-tree of Australia. P. emetica yields the drug striated ipecacuanha (see ipecacuanha), and some other species furnish a dyestulf.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. tropical chiefly South American shrubs and trees