232 MYRTACEjE. 



mary veins approximate : petiole long, with the tinder side of the midrih prickly ; raceme's 

 compound, villous ; petals obovate, as long as the calyx-segments ; fruit ovoid- roundish, 

 twice as large as the appressed calyx : drupes numerous, deciduous, devoid of bloom. — SI. t. 

 213./. 1. — R. ferrugineus, Wicks'tr. ? — Fruit 4"' diam., purple. — Hab. Jamaica \, Pd.,Al., 

 March, Wulhchl., common in the mountains. 



6. R. alpinus, Mac/. Shrubby, trailing, glahrescent ; prickles recurved ; leaflets 3, 

 elliptical, pointleted, concolor-glabrous, unequally and sharply sen-ate : primary veins ap- 

 proximate : petioles long, with the under side of the midrib prickly ; pedicels long, fascicled, 

 in compound racemes ; calyx pubescent, appressed, half as long as the ovate, rounded fruit ; 

 drupes numerous, deciduous, devoid of bloom. — The unequal, spreading, approximate leafiet- 

 serratures distinguish this species at once from the similar R.fagifolius, Cham. Schlecht., of 

 Mexico. Fruit 3"' long, 2£'" broad, dark-purple. — Hab. Jamaica !, Mac/., Pd., in the Blue 

 Mountains, above 3000'. 



4*. FRAGARIA, L. 



Calyx hiserial, 10-fid. Petals 5. Stamens oo . Achenia oo , adnate to the baccate torus. 

 — Herbs ; leaves &-foliolate, 



7*. P. vesca, L. Petioles pilose; peduncles pubescent ; calyx spreading from the fruit; 

 aehenia superficial on the conical or hemispherical torus. — Hab. Naturalized in the Blue 

 Mountains of Jamaica !, AL ; [introduced from Europe]. 



LXVII. MlfRTACEJil. 



Stamens inserted into the valvate calyx, mostly indefinite. Ovary inferior, compound, 

 paracarpous in the beginning, at length usually plurilocular : ovules co : style simple. 

 Seeds usually few, mostly exalbuminous. — Leaves simple, entire, mostly exstipulate, with 

 Marginal nerves, or juxtamarginal vein-arches. Stems shrubby or arboreous in the West 

 Indian species. 



The Myrtacea abound in fragrant, volatile oils : hence the leaves are usually pellucid- 

 dotted. The flower-buds of Caryophyllus (or cloves), and the unripe berries of Pimenta 

 (Pimento-pepper, or all-spice), are renowned spices, the former of the East, the latter of the 

 West Indies. The fruits of Psidium (Guava), Jambosa (Rose-apple), and Syzygium (Jam- 

 bolin), are eatable. The astringent bark of Punica is an anthelmintic drug. Timber-trees 

 are Myrcia ferruginea, Eugenia aruginea and coffeifolia, Psidium montanum. A species, 

 of Lecythis, affording timber, is stated to grow in Trinidad, but has not been sent. 



Teibe I. MYRTEJE. — Stamens mostly oo , distinct. Pericarp baccate. — Leaves opposite 

 (rarely whorled), quite entire. 



1. CALYPTRANTHES, Sw. 



Calyx closed, circumscissile about the middle, at the insertion-line, and much above the 

 ovary. Petals (or 2-5, abortive). Berry 1 -few-seeded. Testa cartilaginous. Cotyle- 

 dons thickish-foliaceous, corrugate or contortuplicate : radicle nearly as long, inflexed. — 

 Flowers cytnose, clustered, or single. 



* Branchlets cylindrical. 



1. C. Chytractjlia, Sw.l Branchlets rusty-villons or glabrate, cylindrical; leaves 

 elliptical or elliptical-oblong, with a bluntish point, glabrous or glabrate", pellucid-dotted : 

 veins rnnning into arches ; cymes rusty -tomentose, compound, divaricate, peduncled, nearly 

 as high as broad, 5(-3)-chotomous, interruptedly and shortly spicate at the end of the 

 branches : flowers sessile, ternate ; calyx obovate, mucronate, tomentose ; petals ; berry 

 globose. — Br. Jam. I. 37./- 2 : analyt. — Myrtus, L. — A low tree, 12' high ; leaves vari- 

 able, 3^*-li": calyx H'" long. — Hab. Jamaica!, Maef., Al., Wits., March, common in 

 limestone-districts; [Cuba!]. 



2. C. Syzygium, Stc..' Branchlets glabrous, cylindrical; leaves elliptical, bluntish, 



