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SOME REMARKS ON THE SPECIES OF THE 

 GENUS CITRUS, WHICH ARE CULTIVATED 



IN JAMAICA. By JaxMes Macfadyen, M. D., Jamaica. 



The genus Citrus is so generally diffused, and its species 

 have so long been submitted to the investigations of science 

 that it may appear strange if we assert that many points con- 

 nected with its history still remain to be elucidated. The 

 botanists of Europe have in general been limited in their obser- 

 vations to individuals reared in orangeries and conservatories, 

 where the natural habits and characters of these plants can 

 never be properly developed. They have consequently been 

 led into errors, into which they never could have fallen, had 

 they visited countries where the different species grow in a 

 state of nature. Thus the Lime and the Lemon are set down 

 by almost all systematic writers as belonging to the same 

 species; the sweet and the bitter Oranges are considered as 

 distinct; while of the Shaddock and the Forbidden Fruit they 

 know little or nothing. 



The genus Citrus belongs to the natural order Auran- 

 TiAcEJE, the 33d of the Jussieuan System, as altered by De 

 CandoUe. The generic characters are, " Proportion of the 

 parts oHhe Jlower quinary. Cal. urceolate, 3-5-fid. Petals 

 5-8. Stamens 20-60, with i\ve Jilaments compressed, more or 

 Jess united at the base, so as to be polyadelphous : Anthers 

 oblong. Style cylindrical. Stigma hemispherical. Fruit a 

 herry, 7-12-locular; the CeUs many-seeded, with the Seeds 

 imbedded in a pulp. The cuticle of the seed membranaceous, 

 Aunculce of the Cotyledons very short. 



The species which compose this genus are Trees or Shrubs, 

 furnished for the most part with axillary spines. 



J- C. Medica, (the Citron.) Petioles naked. Leaves oblong, 

 rounded at the apex, (very rarely acute.) Stamens 35-40. 

 Fruit oblong, with the rind thick, and rugose on the surface. 



%n- Malus Medica, (Theophrastus, 1. 4. c. 4.); Malum 

 Medics, (Vim. Georg.); Otrodj {oUhe Arabians.) 



