The Pavana Shrub.
Pavana
A shrubby plant of the East Indies, of a beautiful, as well as singular aspect. It is six or seven feet high. The stem is woody, firm, and naked almost to the top. The leaves grow upon long foot stalks, and they all rise nearly together, at the upper part of the stem: they are large, of a rounded figure, and divided at the edges pretty deeply into several parts: their colour is a deep green. The flowers are small, and of a greenish colour. The fruit is of the bigness of a hazlenut. The wood is not very firm, and when cut, yields a milky juice, of a very disagreeable smell.
The wood and the seeds are used; and they have both the same violent operation by vomit and stool; but the wood given in infusion, and in a moderate dose, only purges, and that, though briskly, without any danger. It is good in dropsies, and in other stubborn disorders; and it is excellent against rheumatic pains. Some recommend it as a specific against the sciatica. The seeds are what are called, grana tiglia; but though much spoken of by some writers, they are at this time very little used in the shops.
