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S.tREADQE3 KORTUS J ARf A I C E N 3 1 & ji 



BARBAD0E3 PRIDE, or FLOWER FENCE. C^SALPIMA. 



Cl. 10, OR. 1. Decandria monogynia, Nat. or. Lomentacea; 



Tills p;enus is nameJ in honour of Andreas C^salpinus, cliief phy.-^iciaa to Pope Clc- 

 ent Vill. ; the father of systematic arrangements \i\ plants. He Vlieci ai J.\uine, ItiOJ, 



Gen. char. Calyx, a oue-lcafcd five^parted perianthium, tube short, set^ments ob- 

 long, deciduous, the lowest longer than tho rest, slightly arched ; the corolla has 

 five-petals, inserted into the throat cf the calycinc tube, unequrd ; lamina round- 

 isJi ; stamens ten filaments, inserted into the throat of the calyx, filiform, woolly 

 at the base, declining; anthers oblong, dccumbcijt ; the pistiUu;ii, has a superior 

 germen, linear-oblong, couipressed, attenuated at the base; style filiform, the 

 length of the stamens ; siigma blunt ; the pericarnium an oblong ieginiic com- 

 pres.sed one celled ; seeds sub-ovutc, compressed, fiat. Tliis plant belonged to ikc 

 gcnm potncaina, which is so nearly iallied, that Swartz united it to this. 



PULCHEERIMA. BEAUTIFUL. 



Senna spuria arhorca spiiiosa /oliis alalis ramosu, seu deeomposifis, 

 fore ex luteo ct riiliro speiioso. ,Sloane, v. 2, p. 49. Aculcata, 

 Joliis h{pinnufis,Jloribtts croccis pulchei-rimis, pcdnnculis longis spi~ 

 cutis incidentibus. Browne, p. '225. 



Prickly ; leaflets oblong-oval emarginate, tJiey and the calyxes smooth ; corymbs 

 simple ; petals fringed ; stamens very long. 



It rises with a straight stalk twelve or fifteen feet high, wliich is covered with a grey 

 ilark, and is sometimes as thick as the small of a man's leg, dividing into several spread- 

 ing branches at the top, which are armed at each joint with two short, crooked, strong 

 spmes, and garnished with decompound winged leaves, each leaf consisting of six or 

 eight pair of simple winged leaves. They are of a light green colour, and when bruised 

 .femit a strong odour, Tiie branches are termniated by loose spikes of fiowers, which 

 are sometimes formed into a kind of j)yrarnid, and at others disposed more in the form 

 of an umbel. The footstalk of each flower is near three inches long ; the Hower is com- 

 posed of five petals, which are roundish at the top, but are contracted to narrow tails 

 at the base. They spread open, and are beautifully variegated with a deep red or orange 

 colour, yellow, and some spots of green ; and emit a very agreeable odaur. The style 

 and stamens are three inches long. After the flower is past, tfie germen becomes a 

 broad fiat pod three inches long, divided into three or four cells by transverse partitions, 

 ach including one fiattish irregular seed, from which the plant is propagated. 



This beautiful plant is a native of both the Indies, and it is doubtful whether it is in- 

 digenous, or has been introduced into Jamaica, where it was fountl by Dr. Houston in 

 Woods at a great distance from any settlements. The French call it poinciade, or Jleurs 

 deparadis. Browne says that all pans of the plant are thought to be very povyerful 

 emmenagogues, and are frequently used for that purpose among the negroes. 



This, I suppose, is so called from their fencing in their plantations with this shrub, 

 which is full of sliort strong prickles ; but they are commonly called in Jamaica doodle- 

 does i they grow in all or most parts of America. The flowers are elegantly mixed witi^ 

 ared-j-eliQW, and t]jerefore tailed, by some, Spanish carnation; or wiid senna. Sir Hans 



