TivcnGo HORTUS JAMAFCENSIS. 23? 



green colour. Dr. ^.lartyn gives the following description, in the Gardeners Dictionarv, 

 ot the ciitVercnt appearance of the male and female plnnts raided from the same seeds : 

 " The male |)!ants have stalks as thick as ones arm, which rise ten or twelve feet high ; 

 the hark is of a dark brown colour, and smooth ; these send out man), branches by 

 pairs opposite, which are inucli stroncrer than those of the female, and do not hang 

 about so loose : they arc garnished vvii.h ohovate stiff leaves, an inch aad a half long, 

 and an inch and a quarter broad, standing opposite on short footstalks. From the side 

 of the branches come out short spurs, having'each two pairs of small Leaves at the bot- 

 tom,. and from the top comes out the peduncle, which is slender, abont half an incU 

 long, dividing at the top into three ; each of these sustain a amalt corymb of herbace- 

 ous yellow flowers, each liaving five stamens, stafiding out beyond the petal, termin- 

 ated by obtuse anthers. 



" The stalks of the female plants, not being so strong as those of th6.-male, require 

 support. These rise eighteen or twenty feet high, sending out slender weak branche.s, . 

 opposite, which are armed with short, stroag, hooked, spines, and have small oval 

 leaves, about an inch and three quarters broad ; these stand opposite on the larger ' 

 branches, but on the smaller (hey are alternate, and have short footstalks. The flowers 

 are produced in small bunches at the end of the braiTches, sitting upon the germ ; they 

 are shaped like those of the male, but have no starnans ; in the centre is situated a cy- 

 lindrical style, crowned with five spreading stigmas. The germs afterwards turn to a 

 channelled, five-cornered, glutinous, capsule, armed with small crookad spines, each, 

 containing one oblong, oval, smooth, seed." 



This plant is frequent in all the sugar islandg; it is a strong withy cVimber, whose 

 main trunk is sometimes noless than five or si.x inches in diameter ; but this is gene- 

 rally in the woods, where it thrives best, and is commonly supported liy the help of 

 some of the neighbouring trees. The flowers are very various ; they are sometimej 

 hermaphrodite on every branch, sometimes male in one branch, and fercaie in another, 

 and sometimes male, female, and hermaphrodite, on- the diff'erent parts>of the same 

 plant; but most commonly they are all of one kind. The decoction of the roots, with 

 those of the lime-tree, Sloane says, are thought good for gonorrhoea ; and so it is if 

 the root is ground and mi.xed with lime juice until it is thickened therewith. The 

 wood, being tough and flexible, is frequently used to make hoojjs. There is another 

 small prickly plant called fiigiigo, the mimosa ciner^a, described under the name 

 sensitive plants. 



Fingrigo. I believe some negro gave the name, for it is very full of hooked prickles, 

 like cock. spurs; and some call the plant so,, which is well known in Jamaica. The 

 blossom smells as sweet as the English May. The seeds, when dry, stick 'fiist to any 

 thing they touch, like burs : I have seen ground-doves and pea-doves, that covet to 

 eat the seeds, stick so fast about them that thev could not make use of their wings, so 

 that you might take them up in your hands. The root of this plant -negrceff use in ve- 

 nereal cases. Barham, p. >0. 



2. NIGRICANS. BL.\CK, 



Unarmed ; leaves ovate-acuminate ; flowers cymed, erect ; frnitij berried, 



Swartz refers the pisonia inermis of Jacquiu to this species, which he found in Jai - 



Q:q inaica.^- 



