•^T^ 



872 



MYRTACE^, XLV: Grias. LECYTHIDEiE. I. Lecythis. 



1 -celled, many-seeded. Seeds numerous, small, fixed to the caya; it is the Lecythis olldria^ the seeds of which are large and 



central placenta. ^ edible. Pr. trav. p. 83. The fleshy seeds of most of the spe- 



1 C. BiFLoRA (Forst. 1. c). Tj . S. Native of the Society 



Islands. The rest unknown. 



Two-Lowered Crossostylis. Tree. 



CulL For culture and propagation see Gustavtay p. 870. 



XLV. GRFAS (from ypaw, graoy to eat ; fruit eatable). Lin. 

 gen. no. 659. Swartz, obs. p. 215. Smith, in Rees' cycl. 

 vol. 15. 



cies of Lecythis are edible, but some of them leave a bitter un- 

 pleasant after-taste in the mouth. The bark of Lecythis ollarta 

 is easily separable by beating the liber into a number of fine 

 distinct layers, which divide so neatly from each other, that when 

 separated they have the appearance of thin satiny paper. Poi- 

 teau says that he has counted as many as 110 of these coatings. 



LinVsyst. Icosdndria, Monogynia. Tube of calyx adhering The Indians cut them in pieces as wrappers for their cigars. 



to the ovarium; limb small, 4-cleft, obtuse. Petals 4, coriaceous. The well-known Brazil nuts of the shops of London are the 



Stamens numerous, inserted in a square disk ; filaments joined seeds of the Bertholetia excHsa. The lacerated parts of the 



into 5 series at the base ; inner ones very short : anthers 



kidney- shaped, small. Style wanting. Stigma cruciate, hidden 



by the incurved stamens. Drupe ovate, 8-furrowed, crowned 



by the calyx ; nucleus oblong. — A tall, hardly branched tree. 



Leaves very long, oblong, entire, cuneated at the base, on short 



petioles. Flowers large, white. Peduncles short, many-flowered. 



This genus is said to belong to Myrtacece by Sir J. E. Smith, 



but it appears to be much more nearly allied to Guttiferce* 



flowers of Couroupita Guianensis become blue upon exposure 



to the air. 



Synopsis of the genera. 



1 Le'cythis. Limb of calyx 6-lobed. Staminiferous ligula 

 bearing the anthers at the base, and the sterile filaments at the 



1 G. cAULiFLORA (Lin. spec. p. 732.). T2 . S. Native of apex on the inside. Ovarium 2-6-celled, many-ovulate. Cap- 

 Jamaica, m subalpme, boggy places, where it is called Anchovy , onpnina bv 5i lid 



2>ear 



Sloan, hist. 2. p. 123. t. 217. f. 1-2. leaf. Brown, jam. p. 

 245. Lunan. hort. jam. 1. p. 19. The leaves are 2-3 feet long. 



2 Eschweile'ra. Limb of calyx bent back and applied to 

 The berry is ovate and crowned by the calyx, about the size and the tube, and more or less adnate to it. The rest as in Le- 



shape of an alligator's egg, of a brownish russet colour : it is 

 pickled and eaten like the mango, which it greatly resembles in 



cythis. 



1111 3 Bertholle^tia. Limb of calyx 2-parted, deciduous. Corolla 



taste. It IS readily propagated by seeds, and the plants must be j ^ • r ^ ^i- r\ ' a e ^^ ^ ^^ * 



1 ^. -^u^nn -^r r-x !• I.J and stamens as in Lecythis. Ovarium 4-5-celled : cells 4 ovu- 



kept in a moist heat. To grow it for fruit, plant in a border, 

 and train horizontally near the light. 



Stem-flowered Grias or Anchovy-pear. Clt. 1768. Tree 20 

 to 50 feet. 



Cult, This tree grows best in loamy soil ; and large cuttings 

 succeed best under a hand-glass, in heat. 



late. Capsule large, opening by a lid. Seeds triangular. 



4 Couroupita. Calyx and corolla as in Lecythis. Ovarium 



* 



6-celled. Capsule with the lid not separable. 



5 Coura^tari. Limb of calyx 6-parted. Petals 6, joined at 



the base. Stamineous Hgula unilateral, and antheriferous inside. 

 Fruit 3-celled, but at length 1 -celled, with a convex lid, which 



Order Cn. LECYTHI'DEiE (plants agreeing with Lecy- is formed from the dilatation of the top of the central column. 

 this in important characters). Rich. mss. Poit. mem. mus. 13. 

 p. 141. (1825.) Lindl. introd. nat. syst. p. 44. Myrt^cese, sect. 

 LecythidesB, D. C. prod. 3. p. 290. Rich, in ann. des sc. 1. p. 

 321. (1824.) 



Calyx superior, 2 or 6-leaved, or urceolate, with a divided 

 limb (f. 127. a. f. 128. a.); valvate, or imbricate in aestivation. 

 Corolla of 6 unequal petals, cohering at the base, with an imbri- 



I. LE'CYTHIS (\£>cv0oc, Zecy<Ao5, an oil-jar; form of seed 

 vessels). Loefl. itin. p. 189. Lin. gen. no. 664. Lam. ill. t. 

 476. Poit. 1. c. b. C. prod. 3. p. 290. 



Lin. syst. Monadelphia, Polydndria. Tube of calyx tur- 

 binate ; limb 6-lobed, permanent (f. 127. a.). Petals 6, unequal. 

 Staminiferous ligula (f. 127. /.) bearing the anthers at the base, 

 and the sterile filaments at the apex on the inside. Ovarium 



cated Aestivation. Stamens indefinite, epigynous, connected into g^g.^elled ; cells many-ovulate. Style short. Capsule coriaceous 

 a smgle petaloid, cucuUate, undateral body (f. 127. I. f. 128. c). or woody, circumcised at the apex, and therefore opening by 

 Ovarium inferior, 2-6-celled; ovula indefinite, or definite, attached a lid at the top (f. 127. 6.). Seeds few or solitary in each cell 



to the axis ; stigma simple. Fruit a woody capsule (f. 127. i. f. 

 128«y.), either opening with a lid or remaining inclosed. Seeds 

 several, covered by a thick integument. Embryo without albumen, 



ovate-oblong, fixed to the central column at the base, covered 

 by a fleshy membrane. Embryo undivided. Cotyledons thick, 

 closely conferruminated. — Trees nearly all glabrous. Fruit large, 

 turbinate, or globose. Seeds edible. Numbers of the species 



* 



Leaves serrated. 



either undivided, or with 2 large, petaloid, fleshy, or leafy coty- are not well known, 

 ledons, sometimes folded upon the radicle, which is next the 



hylum. — Large trees, with alternate, entire, or toothed leaves, 

 with minute, deciduous stipula, and without pellucid dots. 



Flowers large, terminal, or lateral, solitary, or racemose. This cordate-ovate ; racemes terminal ; fruit roundish, 

 order has been combined, by De Candolle and others, with tive of Cumana, in fields, ex Lcefl. itin. p. 159. ; 



1 L. olla'ria CLin. snec. d. 734.) 



I2 . S. Na- 



and of Brazil, 



' Ramp- Pis. 



'pucaya 



Myrtacece^ from which it differs most essentially in their alter- 

 nate, often serrated leaves, without pellucid dots. 



The fruit of Couroupita Guianensis^ called in Guiana Ahricot 

 sauvage, in Cayenne is vinous and pleasant. The most gigantic eatable either raw or roasted. The" b^^^ tree serves to 



tree in the ancient forests of Brazil is that called the Jaca-pu^ make 



bras. p.l35. with a figure. The tree is called at Barcinoma Ollata* 

 Fruit the size of a child's head, according to Marcgraff. Co- 

 rolla white, with a yellow nectary. The seeds are like chestnuts, 



