BUCHU, or BUKA LEAVES  , the produce of several shrubby plants belonging to the genus Barosma (nat. order Rutaceae), natives of the Cape of Good Hope . The principal species, B. crenulata, has leaves of a smooth leathery texture, oblong-ovate in shape, from an inch to an inch and a half in length, with serrulate or crenulate margins, on which as well as on the under 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 commerce, of a pale yellow-green colour; they emit a peculiar aromatic odour, and have a slightly astringent bitter taste . Buchu leaves contain a volatile oil, which is of a dark yellow colour, and deposits a form of camphor on exposure to air, a liquid hydro-carbon being the solvent of the camphor within the oil-glands . There is also present a 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 British Pharmacopoeia contains an infusion and tincture of buchu . The former may be given in doses of an ounce and the latter in doses of a drachm . The drug has the properties 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

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