Prunus EOSACE.^ 259 



Lond. Joiirn. Bot. il. 342 (1843). ]\[yrti folio arbor, foliis latis 

 subrotundis, flore albo racemoso Sloane Cat. 162 & Hist. ii. 79 

 /. 193, f. 1. Laurocerasus sphjierocarpa M. Hoem. loc. cit. (1847). 

 (Fig. 110.) Type in Herb. Mus. Brit. 



Wild Gas sad a; Ants' Wood. 



In fl. Dec. -Feb. ; in fr. Aug. ; Sloane Herb. vi. 72 ! Wright ! Macfadyen ! 

 Manchester, Purdic ! liutherford ! March ; St. Thomas in the Vale, Prior ! 

 Green Valley, J. P. 2093, Morris ! Plato Road ; Chester Vale, 3900 ft. ; 

 Port Royal Mts. ; Trov, 1300 ft. ; Holly Mount, 2000 ft. ; Content Gap, 

 2800 ft.; Bluefields Mt., 2000-2500 ft.; Harrisl Lancaster; ]\Iandeville ; 

 John Crow (Blake) Mts.; Harris d Brittonl Fl. Jam. 5521, 5541, 5546, 

 5969, 8658, 8990, 9121, 9357, 10,209, 10,538, 10,602, 10,739. Florida, 

 Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, ^Mexico. 



Tree 15 to 40 ft. Leaves elliptical to oblong-ovate, sometimes some- 

 what acuminate, base rounded to wedge-shaped, glabrous, shining on upper 

 surface, obscurely veined, 5-12 cm. 1., 2 "5-4 -5 cm. br. Racemes axillary, 

 solitary or rarely two together, much shorter than the leaves. Pedicels 

 2-4 mm. 1. Flowers yellowish-white. Eeccptacle about 1'5 mm. 1. 

 Sepals minute, about 1 mm. 1. Petals rounded, slightly clawed, about 

 2' 5 mm. 1. Stamens 12-20, exserted, about 2 mm. 1. Fruit subglobose, 

 shining black-purple, about 1*2 cm. in diara. 



The wood is heavy, hard, and close-grained, of a light clear red ; a cubic 

 foot of absolutely dry wood weighs 56 lbs. (Sargent). See observations on 

 the wood of P. occidentalis. The kernel resembles the Bitter Almond in 

 taste, and the bark smells strongly of i)russic acid. 



4. RUBUS L. 



Prickly shrubs, perennial in Jamaican species. Leaves 

 alternate, compound in Jamaican species. Stipules aclnate to the 

 leaf-stalk. Flowers in panicles or corymbs, terminal and 

 axillary. Receptacle saucer-shaped, conical in the middle. 

 Sepals persistent. Stamens numerous, inserted on the marijin of 

 the receptacle. Carpels numerous, inserted on the conical 

 portion of the receptacle ; styles subterminal ; ovules 2, 

 pendulous (one often very small). Achenes drupaceous, crowded 

 on the dry receptacle, with one seed. Seed pendulous ; 

 cotyledons plano-convex ; radicle superior. 



Sjjecies over 200, abundant in the northern hemisphere, few 

 in the southern. 



Calyx not prickly nor bristly. 



Greyish villose-tomentulosc on young branches, 



under surface of leaves, and calyx 1. B,. jamaiccnsis. 



Pubescent on young branches, under surface of 



leaves, and calyx. Stem with a purplish tinge 2. R. alpinus. 

 [Calyx prickly or bristly. 



Petals white. Fruit yellow R. cllipticus. 



Petals red. Fruit puq)lish-black R. raceviosus.'] 



1. R. jamaieensis X. ^Fanf. 75 (1767); stems, when young, 

 more or less greyish villose-tomentellous, at length glabrate; 



s 2 



