coLT'& HOUTUS JAMAICENSIS, 239 



- 1. UMBELLATUM. UMBELLEXJ. 



Piper longuviraceniusu in malvactum. Sloane, v.], p. 136. Foliii 

 aniptis prbiculatu-cordain; sinii aperto, petiolis vaginaniibus.^ 

 Browne, }). 203. 



Leaves orbicular- cordate, acuminate, veined ; spikes umljelled ; stem erect, 

 grooved, pubescent. 

 Hoot annual ; stem herbaceous, from one to two feet high,. Found, simple, jointed, 

 hoary ; leaves terminating, distant, spreading-, entire, nerved and veined, wrinkled, 

 somewhat hirsute underneatii, the lobes of the base converging forwards ; the nerves 

 radiate from the p;tiole, which is almost in the middle of the leaf; petioles long, round, 

 smooth, slieutbing at the base, embracing. Spikes axillary, in umbels; uml)ellet3 

 pedale, with from three to six spikes,. on short pedicels, upright, whitish. Calyx, and 

 corolla none, but roundish ciliate scales, whence the spikes appear sub-tomentase to 

 tlie naked eye. Filaments approximating, two for each scale, very short; anthers 

 roundish, white. Germoblong, longer than the scale;. style none; stigmas three,, 

 reflex, thick, black ; visible only with a glass. Sw^ 



Browne calls this the opC7i leafed cclfs foot, or Sun fa 7i'Iar!a leaf, v'liich is very com-- 

 mon in the woods of .Jamaica, and seldom rises more than three or four feet al)ove tiic 

 roots, which are consposed of short blackish fibre.*.- The stadc it sends up is as thick as 

 ones thumb, jointed, of a grey colour, rougli, . round, striated, .with S04iie furrows on 

 it, having towards the top large round or heart-shaped leaves alternately ; the foot- 

 stalks of tiie leaves encompass the stalk, and leave a mark when they fall. otF. The 

 nerves of the leaves run from the top of the footstalk as from a tomriKm centre, through 

 the whole leaf,, which is very soft, of a dark green colour, somewhat, like those of mal- 

 lows, and about seven or eight inches in diameter. The flovver.s and fruit come out, 

 ex all's Jolioiiaii, being three or four juli two inches- long^. at -ni-st Avhite, then green, 

 standing on a common footstalk. . The leaves being softand. large are applied to thn 



head when it akes, aiidare thought to ease the pain ; tJiey-may be. boiled and eaten. 



Piso says, that if the jidi or pepper be boiled in water, .and exposed to the sun, they 

 growstrbnger an-d niore durable forall uses.. The root smells like clover, and is hot to 

 the third degree, reckoned a counterpofson, and of thin subtle, and therefore open- 

 ing p.ifts. ll'.bruised and [)ut like a-pouitice to any diseased part it ripens and clenuses. 

 The juice of tiie leaves,, because cold, eases burjjings ;- and the leaves putinto clysters 

 have tne same qualities as mallows. Sloane. 



Biwhe'says theVe is a syrup made of- it in many parts of our sugar colonies, wliich 

 is much useu by the inhaiiitants in cobls and catarrhs. 



IWr. A. Roluu.son mentions that he kne.waiady. violently afflicted with the tooth-n-ciie, . 

 v.'ho api/lied a leaf of this plane to the affected p:u't of lier clu'ck at nigirt, and perceived 

 the pain gradually clecre;Ke,*"tni:d,",; before the morning, entirely gone ; but her cheek . 

 was pretty much swedecfand iiiHanied, which was a'.so cured iu a little time by the 

 same application. A chirhrgeon at Bagnals infoirijed him, that he found them very 

 good pectorals by loug experience, and used them in decoction or syrup. 



2. rF.J.TATUM. TARGET-MKE. 



Foliis amplis m'biculalo cordatis, pcltalis ; petiolis vaginantibus.^- 

 Erovvne, p. 203. 



Leavca. 



