the staff-tree; a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the pentandra class of plants. There are five species, all natives of warm climates. In Senegal the negroes use the powder of the root as a specific against gonorrhea, which it is said to cure in eight, or sometimes in three days. An infusion of the bark of a species of staff-tree, which grows in the island of France, is said to possess the same virtues.