850 



MYRTACEiE. XXX. Syzygium. XXXL Caryophyllus. 



^ 



Mount 



Caly'ptranthus pyri- 



1 C. aromaVicus (Lin. spec. 



folia, Blum. 1. c. Like S. caryophyllifolium, but evidently dis- p. 735.) leaves ovate-oblong, acu- 

 tinct, in the corymbs being constantly terminal, and in the flowers minated at both ends ; cymes 



many-flowered. Tp . S. Native 



of the Moluccas. Hook, bot. 



mag. 2749. and 2750.— Rumph. 



amb. 2. tt. 1, 2, 3. Blackw. t. 

 veins ; racemes axillary or terminal, solitary or crowded ; pedi- 338. Eugenia caryophyllata, 



Thunb. diss. d. 1. My'rtus 



FIG. 123. 



being much larger. 



Pear-leaved Syzygium. Tree 20 feet. 



22 S. rostra'tum (D. C. 1. c.) leaves broadly lanceolate, 

 each with a long blunt acumen, shining, full of fine parallel 



eels 3-flowered ; calyx obsoletely 4-toothed ; fruit oblong. Tp • 

 S. Native of Java, on high mountains. Calyptranthus ros- 

 trata, Blum, bijdr. p. 1092. 



Beaked Syzygium. Tree. 



23 S. ? ACUMiNATissiMUM (D. C. 1. c.) pauiclcs terminal, co- 

 rymbose ; pedicels usually 3-flowered ; calyx almost quite en- 

 tire ; petals 5-6^ small ; leaves lanceolate, very much acumi- pie. 



p. 1. 



caryophy'llus, Spreng. The dried 

 flower-buds of this tree are the 

 cloves of the shops, the clou 

 de Giroffe of the French. Calyx 

 dark purple. Petals pale pur- 



nated, finely veined, coriaceous; fruit oblong. ^. S. Native 



of Java, on the mountains. My'rtus acuminatissima, Blume, 1. c. 

 p. 1088. 



Acuminated Syzygium. Tree. 



Every part of the plant is co- 

 vered with minute dots or glands, 

 which contain the oil, that gives the aromatic odour. It is not 

 easy to determine when the clove was first known to Europeans. 



Moluccas 



24 S.?magnolia:f6uum (D.C. prod. 3. p. 261.) panicles ter- J. Bauhin tells us, 



minal and axillary; flowers usually tern; calyx nearly entire ; hardly acquainted with its value, tiil some Chin^^^^^ 

 leaves elhptic-oblong, obtuse at the apex, narrow at the base, 

 coriaceous, veined ; fruit oblong. T2 . S. Native of Java, in 

 the mountain woods in the province of Burangrang. My'rtus 

 magnoliaefolia, Blum, bijdr, p. 1088. 



Magnolia 



Tree 20 feet. 



their country, and transported many plants into China, and that 

 they were thus the means of distributing them into other dis- 

 tricts of India, into Persia and Arabia. Sir James Smith (in 

 Rees' cycl.) suspects that it was brought into Greece from Arabia, 

 and that the first distinct mention of it is made by Paulus CEgi- 

 neta, a Greek physician of the seventh century, when it was used 

 in food and in medicine ; and the same author supposes it was 

 the Carunfel of Serapion, and the Charumfel bellum of Avi- 

 cenna, two Arabian physicians. ~~ 



by the Portuguese in 1511, and from that time, or very soon 

 Rumph. Style bipartite. Berry 1 -seeded, dry, crowned by the ^"^^'j it may be imagined, that cloves came into common use in 



•j" Species not sufficiently known* 



25 S. Metroside^ros(D. C. 1. c.) leaves ovate, scattered, ser- 

 rated; peduncles nearly terminal, somewhat racemose; petals 

 pilose inside. Tj . G. Native of Cochin-china, in woods. O^pa 

 Metrosideros. Lour. coch. n. 309. pvrlii<;ivp nf tht^ cxmnnTrTno r,P 



Mol 



calyx. Perhaps belonging to a different genus. 

 Iron-Tvood Syzygium. Tree. 



26 S. Bellu'tta (D. C. 1. c.) arboreous ; leaves ovate, acute, 

 shining; peduncles somewhat spicate, axillary and terminal; 

 fruit globose. Tj . S. Native of Malabar. Bellutta-Kannelli, 

 Rheed. mal. 5. t. 20. Pet. Th. diet. sci. nat. 4. p. 29. ? 



Bellutta-Kannelli Syzygium. Tree 20 feet. 



27 S. Ma KUL (Gsertn. fruct. 1. p. 16G. t. 33.) T2 . S. Native 

 of Ceylon. Fruit unknown. 



Makul 



Tree. 



(D. C. 1. c.) 



Tree 20 feet. 



hort. beng. p. 37« 

 Myrtle-leaved Syzy_ 



29 S. HYPERiciFOLiuM (D. C. prod. 3. p. 261.) My 

 pericifolia, Salisb. prod. p. 354. 



St. John's-wort-leaved Syzygium. Tree. 



Cult. For culture and propagation see Myrcia^ p. 8^ 



Europe. The clove is now cultivated in almost every part of 

 Asia, where the soil and climate are suitable ; and several of the 

 West India Islands now possess this precious vegetable, as St. 

 Vincent, Trinidad, Martinique, St. Kitts, and other French 

 Islands. The French have introduced it into Bourbon and the 

 Mauritius, through the medium of M. Poivre, the*r then Inten- 

 5ent of those islands, who sent two vessels in 1769 to the kings 

 of Gueby and Patony, to procure the cfoye and other valuable 

 spices, which now succeed better in those islands than in Am- 

 boyna. Plants were sent from the Mauritius to Cayenne about 

 the year 1779, and in 1792 the plantation there contained 2500 

 trees, which bore cloves equal to those of the East Indies, and 

 fetched a higher price in France than those from the Moluccas. 



The cloves of commerce are the unexpanded flowers, the 

 corolla forming a ball or sphere on the top, between the teeth 

 of the calyx ; thus with the narrow base of the germ tapering 

 downwards, giving the appearance of a nail ;" hence the Dutch 

 call it naghel ; the Spaniards clavo; the Italians chiodo; and 



XXXL CARYOPHY'LLUS (The Arabs, who have been the French c/aj, from which the English clove is derived. 



acquainted from all antiquity with the clove, called it Qarumfel, 

 which the Greeks altered to Caryophyllon.) Tourn. inst. t. 432. 

 Lin. gen. 669. Gsertn. fruct. 1. p. 169. t. 33. Blum.inlitt. D. C. 

 prod. 3. p. 261. My'rtus species, Kunth. — Eugfenia species, Willd. 

 Lin. syst. Icosdndria, Monogynia. Tube of calyx cylin- 

 drical (f. 123. e.); limb 4-parted (f. 123. rf.). Petals 4, coher- 

 ing together into a calyptra as in Syzygium. Stamens free (f. 



) 



) 



cells 20-ovulate. Mature berry 1-2-celled, 1-2-seeded. Seed 



The uses of cloves are sufficiently known, particularly in 

 aomestic economy, as a seasoning in various dishes, and to give 

 flavour to wines and spirits. In medicine they are esteemed 

 tonic and exhilarating, powerfully stimulating on the muscular 

 fibres, but dangerous to bilious persons. These properties, 

 and their acrid and burning taste, depend on the essential oil. 

 Cloves yield, by distillation with water, about one-seventh of 

 their weight of volatile oil. When the alcoholic extract is freed 

 from the volatile oil by distillation with water, the oil that arises 

 proves mild, and the resin that remains insipid. Its pungency 



^«i;«,i-: 1 ^* ^ i^ ^ 1 J 1 • -i /I 1 ■■ -""«, «ii^ iijc icaiii uiui remains insipiu. its puiii'cuwj 



S! i,ll • '7? P'^i^'^""' '^l'\' fl«l>y. concave on therefore, seems to depend upon . combination of these prii- 

 t ?T'LZ::f.TrZZ71T^:j"if':.Af.'fl";:. fP'- . J¥ •^•"='' »" ol clo/es is extremely hot, fiery. Jd of 



ing from the centre of the cotyledons, straight, and hidden by 

 them. — ^Trees. Leaves opposite, coriaceous, dotted. Cymes ter- 



subcorymb 



8 



a reddish brown colour, but is greatly adulterated both with 

 fixed oils and resin of cloves ; for the genuine oil, when re- 

 cently distilled, is comparativelv mild and colourless. It is 



