25 1 HORTUS JAMAICENSIS.. cudwf.eb. 



a native of Jamaica, the cm ifuria, or wild cucumber, the fativus, or common cu- 

 cu.mbtr, as wcil as the 7nelo, or musk melon, have both been introduced and suc- 

 cessfully cultivated. 



1. AXGURiA. 



Cucumis anguria folio lattore, aspere, friictu oninore candido spinulia- 

 obiusis muricaio. Sioane, v. 1, p. 227. Sub-hirsutus ininor, Jo- 

 liisprofitnde sinuatis, fructibusmurtcutis. Browne, p. 333. 



Leaves palmate-sinuate; stem angular ; fruit oval echinate. 



This has a deep white oblong root, sending forth several long trailing branches. 

 The stems are square, rough, five or six feet long, at every four inches distance hav- 

 ing leaves, clavicles, and flowers. The leaves have t"iVe sections, curled, sinualed, 

 and rough, the undermost sections near the base being the smallest, the iifth is three 

 inches long and has two notches in it, tliey have four-inch long rough footstalks. The 

 cia\Hcles and flowers grow from the ah of the leaves, which are yellow. The fruit is 

 of a pale green colour, oval, as big as a walnut, having many short, blunt, thick, tu- 

 bercles, sharper /than those of other cucumbers, and within the pulp a great many- 

 small seeds. This fruit is eaten very greedily by sheep and cattle. Slodnc. 



It is called the small wild cucumber, and grows very plentifully in Jamaica, where it 

 is frequently used with other herbs in souj)s, and proves a very agreeable ingredient. 

 The rind is thickly beset with blunt prickles, having the appearance of the back of a 

 hedge Iwg. 



2. SATIVUS. CULTIVATED. 



"Leaves straight between the angles, fruits oblong, scabrous. 



This is the common cucumber, which thrives extremely well in Jamaica. Two other 

 species have also been introduced, the diidaim, or apple-shaped encumber, from the 

 Levant; nwA the Jlexuosus, pr Turkey cucumber. Although cucumbers are neither 

 sweet nor acid, they are considerablpacescent, and so jiroduce flatulency, choleraj 

 diarhcea, &c. Their coldness and flatulency may be likewise in part attributed to tha 

 firmness of their texture. They have been discharged Viith little change from the sto- 

 mach, after being detained there for -foity-eight hours. By this means, therefore, 

 their acidity is greatly increased ; hence oil and pepper, the condiments commonly 

 employed, are very useful to check their fermentation. Another condiment is some- 

 times uscxl, its skin, which is i)itter, and may therefore supply the place of aromatics j 

 but should only be used when young. 



Se_e Musk Melon Wild Cucumeer, 



CUDWEED. GNAP1L\LIUM. 



Cl. 1?, OR. 2. Sj/ngenesia poli/gamia superfiua. Nat. or. Composilir. 

 This name is derived from a Greek word, signifying cotton or nap. 

 Gen. char. Calyx common, rounded, imbricate, with the marginal scales rounded, 



scariose, coloured ^ corolla compound ; corollets hermaphrodite, tubular,, with 



apetalous- 



