204 



Mr. Schomburgk on the Snake-nut Tree. 



sparely dowered; the calyx is imbricated, the corolla has 3 



petals, ovate and nun-aw, and is of a lilac colour. 



What is most n markable is however the fruit, a thin cori- 

 aceous drupa, with a smooth nut, the kernel of which resem- 

 bles a snake most strikingly. 



It La covered like the walnut with a membrane ; the embryo 

 is roundish ; the head of the snake becomes a claviform radicle, 

 and the tail (MirbePs scapelhis or DeCandolle's ' (if/elle 9 ) 



its two large liliaceous cotyledons, with several nerves, 

 depressed, plaited, and applied to the radicle; the colour of 

 the embrvn and cotyledons is white, but the nerves of the 

 latter are of a lake colour ; as soon as exposed to the air they 

 change into a dark-brown. When the fruit is about to ger- 

 minate, the scapellus or Uit/elle 9 bends towards the base of the 

 cotyledons, bursts the nut, and having made room for the 

 seed-lobes, they unfold and take an erect situation, while the 

 rhizoma has sent its roots into the earth. 



No trials have been made whether the tree or its fruit pos- 

 sess any medicinal properties : as already observed, the re- 

 semblance of a snake has induced the populace to consider it 

 an antidote for snake-poison. The tree appears to be peculiar 

 to the lower part of the river Essequibo and its tributaries., 

 at least it has not as yet been found anywhere else. It blos- 

 soms in March and April, and its fruit comes to maturity in 

 November. 



The above figure exhibits the appearance of the embryo after the outer 

 shell has been removed : a, is the radicle or rhizoma ; b, the neck, tigelle, or 

 collet ; c, the two cotyledons, which have been unfolded, as they are other- 

 wise applied to d d, and partly surround the embryo. 



The figures in Plate III, represent the Nut and its snake-like Kernel. 



