320 BOUTON ON ZIZYPHUS JUJUBA. 
facts that deserve attention, I propose now to speak to 
the Society of a species of the Genus Zizyphus, which is 
abundant in the mountains, and which presents a certain 
number of varieties, some of which though probably hitherto 
unnoticed, might constitute new species, if submitted to a 
close examination. I shall content myself, however, with 
describing them without taking on myself to give them a 
new appellation. 
Zizvrnus. Lam. Hl. t. 185. DC. Prodr. ii. p. 19. 
Nat. On». RuAamnea, R, Br. DC. lc. 
Z. Jujuba, Lam. Dict. iii. p. 318. DC. Prodr. ii. p. 21. 
(Tas. CXL.)—Rhamnus Jujuba, Linn, Sp.—Malus Indica, 
Rumph. ii. t. 386.— Perim Toddal. Rheed. Mal. v. vi. 41. 
The shrub which bears the fruit, known in the Island of 
Mauritius by the name of * Masson," rises to a height of 
about 25 or 30 feet. The Bark is greyish, thick, and cracks 
in age, leaving deep crevices on the Trunk. Branches 
spreading, drooping, and the young branchlets, as well as the 
underside of the foliage, covered with a cottony, whitish, but 
sometimes rust-coloured down. Leaves nearly oval, rounded 
in some varieties, elongated in others, finely toothed along 
their edges, blunt, of a glossy green above, and marked with 
three longitudinal main nerves. Spines growing in pairs, 
one large, straight and sharp-pointed, the other smaller, 
stronger and hooked. These two last characters belong 
equally to several other species of the genus Zizyphus. 
Flowers axillary, greenish, arranged in small tufts. Calyx 
5-toothed ; Petals 5, unguiculate; Stamens with the filaments 
curved inwards; a fleshy disk that surmounts the ovary 
is tipped with 2 Styles. The Inflorescence appears after the 
rains of January and February, and the fruits ripen in June 
and July, continuing till the beginning of September ; they 
are fleshy drupes of an ovoid or rounded form, enveloping 2 
bony and wrinkled Nut of 2 monospermous cells, one of which 
is most frequently abortive. 
The Masson grows readily and seems to delight in the 
