tif HOr.TUS J'AAlAICENSI-Sr, El,EPlU^'T^ 



Stem herbaceous ; leaves ov'a.te-tomentose ; peduncles pendulous Incrassated. 

 There are three or four varieties of this plant, some' prickly some unarmed, the 

 inuinuDi, or species described by -Sloane and Long, is so nearly allied to this that it 

 cannot be considered more than a variety. * It is soraeiin;es called bro-'m jolly or mad~ 

 apple, and a large kind was some years ago introduced front tlie East Indies, called ha- 

 dmjan or bavjhavi. They all tlirive very fu::uriandy, >and have been generally culti- 

 raiedin Jamaica, in gardens. Tiie root is conifxisod of a multitude of fibres and does 

 not descend very dee j) ; it rises with purplish downy stems ; the branches are put forth 

 near the groiuid, recjining, and frequently run oii it ; they are pretty thickly covered 

 with leaves, which sU'.nd in pairs, and have stipules ; tljey have a loose down, are moder- 

 ately large, ovate, deeply siuuated aljout the edges, and stand on long petioles, in 

 some of tiie varieties armedwith prickles. iTlie flowers are usually single, souietimes 

 two or tiiree together, they are longish, and of a pale violet colour, with yellow anthers 

 and green stigmas ; the peduncles are nxillarj', thickened, bent down. The Truit is 

 ill some of a beautiful purple colour, in others violet, whitish, or variegated ; somo 

 of them half a foot in-aiameter, or more, having a bitterish tasted skin. The fruit is- 

 often introduced at table both boded and dressed as tnrnips, as well as fried, and either 

 way is an agreeable foot!, and accounted to be aphrodisiac. Boiled with wine and pep- 

 per thej' taste like artichokes. They are natives of the East Indies, and some of them 

 long ago introduced into Jamaica by the Jews, who sliced and pickled them for a few 

 hours, and then boiled them as a green. The fruit of the badinjan is by far the largest, 

 some bf them having been found to weigh from seven to ten pounds each. All the 

 plants are easily propagated from seeds. 



Mad Apple.-,. These ai^e tribed among the solanums, or nightshades ; they are vul- 

 garly called val(ms:hanna, in Jamaica. The only reason, that^I can find, why tliey 

 lire called mad apples fs, because they bnar some r<ssembJance to mandrakes : Somis; 

 -iiave fancied they were the male mandrake, and, imagining them to be poisonous, did 

 tor that reason call them mad apples : But! know by experience to the contrary, hav- 

 ing eaten many of them, both boiled and fried ; but the best way is to parboil them, 

 taking ott their outer skin, wliii.h is a little bitterish, and then fry them in oil or butter. 

 I planted, above twenty years ago, haif an acre of ground with them, on which my 

 slaves fed, and were well pleased v/ith the food. They eat something like a squash, 

 but better than any of the pompion kind ; and are so well known in America, as to 

 need no particular description. Angoiajnegroes call theai tongu, and the Congo ne- 

 groes macumba. Burham, p. 93. 



iSre Calalue, prickly ^Canker Berry ^Nightshades Potatoes ^To.matcs 



TuuKEY Berries. 



Elder See Pepper Elder. 



I 



ELEPHANT'S FOOT. ELEPHANTOPUS. 



Cl. 19, OR. 5. Syngenesia poly^amia. segregates, Nat. or. Co'vpositv. 

 This was so named from the slp.pe oiXlxQ lower leaves of the Ijist specie^i resembling 

 rtiie loot of an elepiiaiit, 



Gen| 



