PATSj . ' HORTUS JAMAICENSIS. 2,n 



benv, e'leht (four) celled, sitting on a very large spreading calyx ; seed solitary, 

 roundish,"^ compressed, ^very hard. Male, in a distinct plant, calyx a one.teafed, 

 lour-ci<;tt perianth ; corolla one-pet:ded, pitcher-shaped, leathery, four-cornered, 

 tour-cleft; divisions roundish, roiled back, in the manner of asclepias ; the sta- 

 mens eight (six) siiort filaments, inserted into the receptacle ; anthers double, in- 

 terior shorter ; the pistil is the rudmvent of a gerni. One species of this genus is. 

 a native of'Jtmaica. 



TETRASPERMA. FOUR-SEF,DE. 



Leaves membranaceous, shining, wedge-form; berries foar-F.eeded. Siii. 



DATE-TREE. PHCENIX. 



Cl. 22, OR. 3. Dioecia triandria^ Nat. o^.^PalvitS. 



*Gen. char. The calyx of. the male flower is an universal one-valved spathe ; spadix 

 branched ; perianth three- |iarted, very sraal.l, permanent ; the corolla has three 

 petals, concave, ovate, somewhat oblong ; the stamens are three filaments, very 

 short; anthers linear, four-cornered, tiie length of the corolla. Female flowers 

 on a different plant ; cal\S as in the (uale ; no stamens ; the pistil has a roundish 

 .germ, an awl-shaped short st} le, and acute stigma ; the pericarp is an ovate 

 drupe, one-celled; the seed single, bonyj sub-ovate, v/itli a longitudinal 

 groove. 



DACTYL1FERA F1NGERE0. 



Pahna daciylifera major vulgaris. Slo.me, v. 2, p. II!. S'tihcmf" 

 rca, foliis brevloribax piyinat.is (juasimodo confertis^ iiifiinis krevissi-' 

 jnis et in spinas quasi redactis. Brov.'ne, p. 344. 



Fronds pinnate ; leaves folded together, ensiform. 



The dactylifera, or common date-tree, isii native of Africa and the Eastern countries, 

 where it grows to fifty, sixty, and one hundred feet high. The trunk is round, up- 

 right, and studded v.ith protuberances, which are tlie vestiges of the decayed leaves. 

 From the* top issue forth a cluster of leaves or branches eight or nine feet long, extend- 

 ing all round, like an umbrella, and bending a little towards the earth. The bottom 

 part produces a nuntber of stalks like those of the middle, but seldom shooting so high 

 as four or five feet. These stalks, sayi^Adanson, diffuse the tree very considerably ; 

 so that, vkfherever it naturally grows in forests, it is estremely difficult to open a pas- 

 sage through its prickly leaves. The centre of the trunk is not solid, but filled with 

 pith. The date tree was introduced into Jamaica soon after the conquest of the island 

 by the Spaniards. There are, however, but few of them in Jamaica at this time, and 

 it is a pity it is not more cultivated. .Tlie fruit is somewhat in the shape of an acorn. 

 It is coiuposod of a thin light, and glossy, membrane, somewhat pellucid and yellowish ; 

 which contains a fine, soft, and pulpy fruit, which is firm, sweet, and somewhat vi- 

 Qotis to the taste, esculent, and .wholesome ; and within this is inglosed a solid, tough, 

 Aud hard, kernel, of a pale grey colour oa the outside, aad finely marbled within, like 



the: 



