j^ASTATitt liORTUS JAMAICENSIS. ^, 



This grows chiefly in moist bouo.i.s, it is prclly simple, and seldom rises above 

 twenty or twenty-live mchea. L' ruicuc. 



This iKitli a root four or five inches long, small and white, !ih lateral fibres drawing 

 j't.-i nourishment ; the stalk is round, tureen, upright, about two feet long, witnout any 

 branclios, having leaves thinly placed thereon, without any orJer, standmg turee al- 

 ways together, on an incii ibotstalk, about an inch and a half long and naif an inch 

 broad in the middle ; at the top of the stalk is a spike of telrapeialous fiowers miKe4 

 VI itli purple, like the other sorts; after which follows a threc-incii long Jjod, sniali, 

 round, green, like the other. The whole plant is balsinnic and vulnerary ; I liave 

 seen the very leaves applied to sores, and they would heal tlieni ; they give case in the 

 gout ; boiled in'.oil, remedj' cutaneous diseases, especially the leprosy. Tiie leaves, 

 boiied or decocted in water, expel poison, jirovoke appetite, comfort the stomach, 

 cause expectoration, and expel wind. The juice, witii oil, heljjs deafness, drojiped 

 into the ear. The leaA es, beaten and applied to the head, cure iis aching from cold. 

 These grow in great plenty in all or most parts of .\merica, c-ven in the woi-st and j)oor- 

 est grounds, in yards, sides of the highways, and streets^ without planting or cuui= 

 vating. Barham, p. 108. 



Bast.\rb Nicaragua See Brasiletto. 

 Bastard Nutmeg Sec Nutmeg. 



BASTARD PLANTAIN. HFLICONIA. 



Cl. 5, OR. !. Pentandr'av-ionogynia. Nat. or Scltamineiv. 

 This name is derived from that of the celebrated mountain in BcEOtia, sacred to th^ 



Riuscs. 



Gen. char. Calyx. Rpathes common and panial, alternate, distinct, with hcrma- 

 j)hrodite flowers ; there is no perianth ; the coroha lias tliree petals, obiong, ciiuu- 

 nelled, erect, acute, equal ; nectary two-leaved, on leatVts neariy equal to tne. 

 petals, the other very snort, channelled, hooked, oppositt: ; tlie siumina are five 

 or six filaments, with long erect anthers ; the pistil lias an inferior oblong germen, 

 short style, and a long., slender, curved, stigma, with a terminating head ; the 

 pericarpiuin is an oblong, truncate, lliree-s4 led, three-celled, capsule; seeds so- 

 litary, oblong. This genus is distinguished frum nuisa by a incoccous capsule, 

 and it is doubtful whether it should nit be transferred to the class hexauuria. 

 Tiiere are two species natives of Jamaica. 



1. EIHAI. 



Miisa humiUor foliis vnnor bus ni^ricuntibus, fruc'u mhi'ino erecfo. 

 Sloane, V. 2, p. 147. Spadicf erecto, spailiis rigidis mnpUwaniibus 

 disiich^ ct alternatini. Browne, p. 364. 



Leaves and .spadix radical, spathes distich, cordate; nectary ventricose, bifid at 

 the tip. 



This in every respect is of a much smaller growth than the plantain or lianana tree, 

 %ut shuou ^eaerally to tue height of ten ur t,\clve feet. The Icuves are oblong, nar- 



lower 



