Abrus

Abrus, a genus of plants belonging to the pea and bean tribe, the most important of which is the tropical A. precatorius. The root of this plant yields Indian liquorice, an inferior substitute for the true liquorice of Europe, the product of an allied plant. Its well-known scarlet seeds with a black 'hilum' or scar at one end are known as crab's eyes or jequirity seeds. They are strung into rosaries by Buddhists, whence its name precatorius, "relating to prayer," and are stated to have been used as carat weights in weighing diamonds. They contain an alkaloid, jequiritine, stated to be antagonistic to atropine, and are consequently employed in ophthalmia, etc.