31 J HORTUS JAMAICENSTS. galct!* 



from ei^t to thrrtyradioli. -The fruit is coroiiatcd, aiid very elegant. Sioa)ie.SC 



2. CAriTATA. UK ADHD. 



Leaves elliptical, entire ; racemes cGiupound, terniinating ; flowers sessile, in 

 little heads. " . 



-.Stem arborescent, erect, cj-lindrlccJ, abruptly hraiiched; bark brown, a little, 

 cracked; branches. curvetl upwards, leafy, terminated by flowers. Leaves scattered, 

 ni'^'re crowded towards the tops ul the branches, on footstalks, wide-sjjreading, pointed, 

 Waved. on the margin, very smooth, obscurely thrt'e-ncrvcd, vein\-, bright green; 

 footstalks \ario\!s in length, nearly tyiindrical, smooth, fi.inily fixed to the branch by 

 an enlarged triangular base. Bniis consisting of several large, rounvii.-h, smooth, yel- 

 lowish, scales, soon falling off, which are often tipped with the rutliments of a leaf, 

 and api)car like abortive leaves .Racemes erect, branches geiicraby alternate, ending 

 in little round heads of many sessile flc.wers. Common footstalks obsoletely angular, 

 paie greea, sjjrinkled ifdiii-rusty coloured poy.-der; partial-ones cylindrical ; bracte; 

 solitary at the lsc of tiiC latter, small, concave, pointed, entire, powdery. Flowers 

 nuni-nuus, white, so t.mall that the structure is not readily to be understood, each 

 stands on i.s proper involucre, resemijling a calyx of one leaf, in five divisions, exter- 

 nally powdery, permanent. Calyx pale green, smootli, permanent. Petals on the 

 Diargin of the calyx, ov^te, -eoiivewiiat pointed, v.hitp, datyiiious. Filaments oppo- 

 site to i]ie teeth of the calyx, and alternate with the petals, spreading, white , anthers 

 roundish, two-lobed, yellow; germ below the flower, crowned witii the calyx, rourid- 

 isli, suiooiii. Styles short, erect, at first united into one body, then spontaneously 

 splitting into se^-eral, varying in number from thiee to ten; berry smooth, brown, 

 with five or m.ore cells, t^ach probably coniaining one seed. Jacquin, the first disco- 

 verer, long ago suspected that this species belonged to the genus hcdera, or ivy, but 

 later.'.r.uthors have kept it in that of ///. This hue plant was discovered in Martinico 

 by Professor Jacquin, aii4 in Jamaica by Dr. William Wright aiul Mr. Ftajicis Massoft- 

 ~Martj^n 



3. SCIODAPHYLLU.M. 



jFvliis majorihus oblongis petiolis covimmiibus umbellatim affixis, fio* 

 7'ibus spicaiis. Browne, p. 190, t. 19, f. 1, 2. 



Arborescent ; leaves digitate, with very numerous unequal leaflets j taceme 

 very long, simple, nodding ; peduncles mnbelled. 



This plant is frequently found in New Liguanca mountains, and Browne's figures 

 are very correct. He says he only met one of the plants, the trunk of which was about 

 twelve or thirteen inches in diameter, and raised its branched top to the height of four- 

 teen or fifteen feet. The leaves ixre generally from sixteen to twenty- together, simple, 

 oblong, and supported by moderate footstalks, whereby they are fastened in an umbel- 

 lated form to the top of so many common supporters, generally longer than the leaves, 

 of a moderate thickness, and sustaining their burthen with great ease; while the others 

 spread themselves like an umbrella, and cast a.beautiful shade below them. The flowers 

 stand on simple robust spikes. Brmme. 



Gaumeta -SVe Bastard Butiv Tree, 



GARDEH 



