?04 II OUT US JA^IA^CENSIS^. c&n- 



The leaves are alternate or scattei-ed, thty are oval, iliick, .sivccn'<^nt, six or seven 

 jnclies lone snJ three or four broacl, hiiving footstalks an incli and a half or two iivches 

 loiiT, arid are of a pale green colour. On the whole not unlike tlie man. mee leaf. - 

 'i'iie olaods arehi pairs,, fiat, depressed,, round, .perforated in. the middle, distilling ; 

 irii)ist\ire - racemes solitary, the length of the leaves, nodding, loose ; ijractes peiioled, 

 K,ub-axi!lary, oblong, entire, biglandukr at the base.; racemelets alternnte, diyaricat- 

 jn<:-, with tivo or three male flowei's on a pedicel, and one female in the middle of ea'di ; 

 oaryx fivc-icaved, tin-ee larger, ovate, convex, membranaceous at the. edge, coloured ; 

 nectary a fleshy blood red ring ; fiiameot purple from. the middle of the disk; anthers . 

 piano convex, purple trifid, with three f)olliiiiferous incisures ; germ oblong, three- 

 fc-ornered, striated w:iiiij six lines ; stigma jjerforated : Cijpsule pendulous, large, (about 

 three inches broad and one thick, not uniike the shape of a turnip) roundish, obtusely 

 three-cornered, thick, tough, and containing three hard nuts, about an inch diameter 

 each, round,, but iiaiu-d on the side where the}- are Ignited to each other, where they 

 stronsjly adhere ; they c-ontain a whitish kernel, surrounded by a. yellow membrane, 

 which has a very agreeable laste. The French call this Koi.se/ 1 ie r, znA in Jamaica it is . 

 known in some parishes by the name of ?^ or Ao^ nut. The cotyledons of the nuts 

 are emetic and purgative. The timber of this tree is of no, service in building, being 

 of a soft brittle nature. The kenvels of the nuts in the raw state are delicately sweet and 

 wholesome ; they are produced in great abundance, and, when ripe, they burst from . 

 the pod and fall to the ground, where the hogs greeilily devour them. When roasted 

 they are equal, if not superior, to any chesnut. By compression they yield a very 

 sweet and fine flavoured oiL As tiiis tree is of quick growth, and bears fruit in three 

 or four years, it is well worthy orextensive cujtivation,. and it succeeds very well in ihe 

 poorestsoils. They might easily be cultivated from the seeds along intervals, or inter- 

 spersed among jwstures, to which they would not onlj' prove ornamental, but useful^ 

 by furnishing abundance of their fruit, and affording an agreeable shade to cattle and 

 other live stock. , These and the bread nut planted in hog crawies would be very 

 Taluable. , 



2-. CORDAT.V. , HEART-SH.4PED. 



Frutescens diffusa, foliis amplioribus ovatis, petiolis biglandulis, ra^^ 

 e^mis ter-minulibus. Browne, p..334. 



Racemes compound, leafy, terminating; leaves scattered, cordate, villose un- 

 derneiath, biglandular at the base ; stem scandent. 

 Stem shrnbbyj scandent, sub-di\'ided, diverging, rounti, pubescent. Leaves aUer- 

 jiate, acuminate, sub- coriaceous, thick, entire, smooth, pubescent underneath, on 

 loiigish loose biglandular petioles ;_ glands depressed, roundish. Stipules at the base 

 et the leaves, small, lanceolate, deciduous; racemes branched, diverging, loose; 

 bractes lanceolate, pedicelled, obtuse, smooth, at the base of the racemelets, which 

 are many flowered ; the flowers in clusters, peduncled, small, green. Calyx four- 

 parted, with roundish segments,, two of which are larger : filament from the centre of 

 a coloured concave diskj convex at top : anthers purple, inserted into the margin of 

 tlie filament ; germ roundish, three-cornered ; style very short, fleshy, three-corn- 

 ered ; stigma trifid, villose ; capsule large, yellowish, containing three brittle nuts, 

 with oblong-angular kernels. , It grows in rocky coppices. !iw, 



3. AXa.LAB;lS 



