Tonka Bean

Tonka Bean, the seed of Dipteryx odorata, a large tree, of the natural order Leguminosæ, sub-order Papilionaceæ, a native of Guiana, having pinnated leaves and axillary racemes of purplish flowers. The fruit is an oblong, dry, fibrous pod, containing a single seed, which has a strong, agreeable odour, owing to the Coumarin (q.v.) which it contains, and which is sometimes found crystallised between the cotyledons. Tonka beans are used for flavouring snuff, and are put amongst clothes to preserve them from insects, and to communicate an agreeable odour. They are also, by a natural confusion, often called Tonquin Beans.