rl^-t HORTUS JAMAICENSIS. chocolate 



cal,- o'ttp cell "^uperiov, the other inferior ; the pistil has an ovate germ, a^filiFurtu 

 style a little longer than tlie stamens; stigma (ive-cleft ;, the pi-ricarp is on ublong 

 capsule, coriaceous, unequal, five cornered, five-celled, vaKeless, not opcjung; 

 the seeds many, sub-ovate, nestling in a bnttery pulp, fastened to a central co- 

 luinnnr receptacle. There is only one species, the 



CACAO. 



Cacao. Sloane, v. 2, p. 15, t. 160. Fructu (rjafa.acumitiato, sub' 

 jvcmico.w, Ji.ct'm sulci's lun^^ituii/vnlihu.* sitbarato. A vaiiety : 

 i^'ructu iubrolundvy sabvL'micoso, decern suicis subarato. ' BrownCj 

 p. 306. 



The cacao or cliocolate tree grows in a handsome fornato the height of twelve or six- 

 teen feet ; the trunk is upright, and about as high as a nian before the head spreaiis 

 ont ; the wood is light and of a white colour^ the bark is brownish antl even. Leaves 

 lanceolate oblong, bright green, quite entn-e, alternate, from inn e to sixteen inches 

 long, and three or four inches wide at most, on a petiole an incli in lengtli, and thick- 

 ened at both ends ; peduncles slender, about eight or ten together, chieHv from the 

 scars of the fallen leaves, one of them only for tiie most part fruitful, the rest abortive ; 

 flowers small, reddish, inodorous. Fruits smooth, yelloiv, red, or of both colours, 

 about tliree inches in diameter ; rind fleshy, near half an inch in thickness; flesh-co- 

 loured within ; pnlp whitish, the<-<msistence of butter, seperaiing froin the rind in a 

 state of ripeness, and adhering to it only by filaments, which penetrate it and reach to 

 tlic seeds ; hence it is known when the seeds are ripe, by the rattling of the capsule 

 when it is shaken. The pulp has a sweet and not nnpleasant taste, with a slight acidity, 

 and is sometmies sucked and eaten raw. -^t may be easily seperated into as many part^ 

 as thereare seeds, to v^hicli it adheres strong!}', and tliey are wrapped up in it, so that 

 each seed seems to have its own proper puip. The seeds are about twenty-five ia 

 naniber ; when fresh they are of a flesh colour, they quickly lose their power of vege- 

 tation, \yhen taken out of the capsule, but^ kejH in it, preserve that power for a con- 

 .siderable time. The tree bears leaves, flowers, and fruit, all the year through; but 

 Ihe usual seasons for gatheiung the fi"uit^re June and,Deceinber. 



This tree is carefully cultivated in all the French and: Spanish islands and settlemeirts 

 in the warmer parts of America. This was formerly the case also in .Jamaica ; but at 

 present we have only a few straggling trees left as monuments of our indolence and bad 

 ])oiicy. This tree delights in shady plates and deep val.ies. ' It is seldom above twenty 

 feet high. Tiie leaves are oblong, large, and poiwted. The flowers spring from the 

 trunk and large branches ; they are small and pale red. The pods are oj-'a! and poind- 

 ed. The seeds or nuts are numerous, and curiously stowed in 'a white pithy suiistance. 

 The cacao nuts being gently parched in an iron pot over the fire, the external covering 

 ' soperates easily. The kernel is levigated on a smooth stone ; a little arnotto is added, 

 and, with a few drops of water, is reduced to a mass, and formed into rolls of one pound 

 ' each. This simtile preparation is the most natural and the best. It is in daily nse ia 

 most families in Jamaica, and seems well adapted for reaiing of children. /j^;^^/;/. 



This beautiful plant and profitable tree grew once in such plenty in .Tamaica, that 

 they valued themselves upon it, and thought they were or should be the richest people 

 ill iiie world i but they sooa saw themselves deceived ; tbrablast at once canie upoa 



the 



