CORAL " H O R T U S J A M A I C E N S I S. 2S3, 



This is also a climting plant, which Browne calls the contrayt'Wi of file.' sauili st'dc^ 

 ar.d die t'orrr,or (jf tiie ncnih side, where they are most eonunuu. He ascr-ibcs the .iaiaitt 

 virtues to both species, aad to he used in tue same uianaer. 



Sec Pelican Flower. 

 Cooper's Wythe See Hoop Wythe. 



CORAL OR RED BEAN TREE. ERYTIIRINA. 



Cl. 17, OR. 4. Diadclphia decandria. Nat. OR. Papilionaei\e. 



Thfs treucric name is derived from a Greek word, si"-nifvinq>; reel, the corolla biiiiT 

 generally scarlet. 



Gen. char. Calyx a one-leafed perianth, entire, tuhnlar, mouth emaririnate ahove> 

 l)eiieat.h furnished with a iTieUit'erons pore; corolla papihonaceous, five-petaled, 

 standard very lonjr ; stamens ten-filanients, conjoined to tlie lower part, but little 

 bent in ; anthers ten, sagittate; the pistil has a pedicelled subulate germ, with a. 

 terminal simple stigma ; the pericarf) i.s an extremely long legume^ protuberating 

 at the seeds, terminated by a point, one-celled ; seeds kjdney-form, 



CORALLODENfiRON. 



Coral arbor. Sloane, v. 2, p. 33, No. 10& 11, t. 178, f. I. Arho^ 

 rea, spinosa et non spinosa i Joliis rhomltoeis, pinnato lernatis. . 

 Browjie, p. 288. 



Leaves ternate, unarmed ; stem arboreous, prickly ; calyxes truncate, five- 

 toothed. 

 This tree rises generally to the height of sixteen or eighteen feet, sending out strong 

 irregular branches, and grows in many parts of .Jamaica. The leaves grow on long' 

 footstalks, tlie middle leaflet much larger than the other two ; they are all heart-shaped, 

 smooth, and of a deep green colour. The flowers come out at the ends of the branches, 

 in short thick close spikes, of a deep scarlet colour, and make a fine appearance. > 

 Browne observes that there were many reasons v/hich induced him to think that this 

 tree was not a native, but had been intjroduced into this jsland while the Spaniards wero 

 in possession. 



Bean Tree. This beautiful tree grows in plenty in most parts of America. In the 

 island of Jamaica, they make fences of them, being very prickly. About Christmas, 

 these trees are to he seen all full of large red flowers, without any green leaves, being 

 %-ery beautiful to the sight. After the flowers are fallen, the green leaves shoot out, 

 andi the fruit begins to appear, which is a pod about six or seven inches long, contain- 

 ing about eight or nine beautiful red beans, in the shape of kidney-beans. The trees 

 are generally very large and spreading, armed full with black crooked thorns, like cock- 

 spurs ; the leaves are like those of thephysic-nut. The virtues of this plant have not 

 yet been discovered, though I know by experience that the flowers make an excellent 

 eye-water. Bontius saith, that the fruit is a great diuretic, aqd purgeth strongly water, 

 and therefore proper in dropsies j he saith they expel wind, and cure the cholic. > 

 Barham:, ft. 19. 



