COW TREE, a name given to a number of species of tree of different natural orders, the bland milky juice of which is used instead of milk. They are all natives of tropical countries, and mostly belong to natural orders in which acridity is the general charac teristic of the milky juice. Some of them belong to the natural order mamma', and are Closely allied to fig; others to the natural order artocaipacem, one of which is the famous PALO DE VACA or C. T. of the Cordilleras and (galactodendron utile, now rather referred to the genus brosimum, see BREAD-NUT). Another is the lIvA-nvA (tabernmmontana 11.014, a native of equatorial America, belonging to the natural order apocynacem.
The PALO DE VACA grows in rocky situations, at an elevation in equatorial regions of about 3,000 feet. It is a lofty tree, with laurel-like leaves, 10 to 16 in. long, and very small flowers. For several months iu the year, not a shower moistens its foliage, and its branches appear dead; but as soon as the trunk is pierced, there flows from it a copious stream of sweet and nourishing milk. The milk flows most freely at sunrise.
The natives are then to be seen hastening from all quarters with bowls to receive it. The milk has an agreeable odor and a viscidity which does not belong to the milk of animals; it becomes yellow in a short time, and thickens or forms a sort of cream at the surface, which gradually thickens into a cheesy consistency before it begins to putrefy. This milk is nutritious, and is much used by the negroes and Indians; but differs very materially in its composition from the milk of animals; more than one half being wax and fibrin; a little sugar, a salt of magnesia, and water, chiefly making up the rest.
The Hya-fivA also yields a copious milky juice, which is used in Demerara and else where as a substitute for milk, and is very agreeable and nutritious.