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BUCHU, or BUKA LEAVES

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 720 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BUCHU, or BUKA LEAVES , the produce of several shrubby See also:plants belonging to the genus Barosma (nat. See also:order Rutaceae), natives of the Cape of See also:Good See also:Hope. The See also:principal See also:species, B. crenulata, has leaves of a smooth leathery texture, oblong-ovate in shape, from an See also:inch to an inch and a See also:half in length, with serrulate or crenulate margins, on which as well as on the under See also:side are conspicuous oil-glands. The other species which yield buchu are B. serratifolia, having linear-lanceolate sharply serrulate leaves, and B. betulina, the leaves of which are cuneateobovate, with denticulate margins. They are all, as found in See also:commerce, of a See also:pale yellow-See also:green See also:colour; they emit a See also:peculiar aromatic odour, and have a slightly astringent See also:bitter See also:taste. Buchu leaves contain a volatile oil, which is of a dark yellow colour, and deposits a See also:form of camphor on exposure to See also:air, a liquid hydro-See also:carbon being the solvent of the camphor within the oil-glands. There is also See also:present a See also:minute quantity of a bitter principle. The leaves of a closely allied plant, Empleurum serratulum, are employed as a substitute or adulterant for buchu. As these possess no glands they are a worthless substitute. The See also:British See also:Pharmacopoeia contains an infusion and See also:tincture of buchu. The former may be given in doses of an See also:ounce and the latter in doses of a drachm. The See also:drug has the properties See also:common to all substances that contain a volatile oil. The infusion contains very little of the oil and is of very slight value.

Until the See also:

advent of the See also:modern synthetic products buchu was valued in diseases of the urinary See also:tract, but its use is now practically obsolete.

End of Article: BUCHU, or BUKA LEAVES

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