350' HORTUS JAMAICENSTS. OUAVJl 



able to sunplv their own consumption, in liiii of the olive oil anmrally imported froiM 

 tuiope, buKivea make a considerable article of their export. Long, p. ViiS. 



Groundsel Vr'p Indian Groundsel. 



GUAIACUM Hce LlUMUM VlTiB. 



GUAVA. PSIDTUM. 



Cl. 12, OR. 1. Icosandria monosrynia. Nat. or. Tfesperidx. 

 Gen. char. Calyx a one-leafed perianth, bell-shaped, five-cleft, permanent, sego 

 nients ovate; corolla five petals, ovate, coi^cave, spreading-, inserted into the 

 calyx ; .tiie stames are numerous f.laments, scarcely shorter than the corolla, in- 

 serted into the calyx, with bmall antliers; ihe pistil has a roundish inferior germ, 

 an awl-shaped long style, and simple stigma ; the pericarp is an oval large berry, 

 crowned with the calyx, one or many ceiled ; seeds numerous, small, nestling. 

 Two species are natives of Jamaica. 



1. PYRIFERUM. PEAR-BEA-RING. 



Malo punicoe ajfiiu's poviifera, flore pevfapetalo dlho, fructu nuUisdis- 

 sepitnentis intcrstinclo, ex toto escultnlo, viajore albn. Sloane, v. 

 2, p. \6'i. Fiuticosum, foliis ovatis venosis, fructu majori. 

 Browne, p. 238. 



Leaves elliptic ; peduncles one-flowered. 

 "This tree is consmon iji most pastures of Jamaica, rising from eight to tw^elve feet 

 Tiigh. The bark is (jf a yellowish brown colour, smouthish, with ash-coloured spots. 

 Tiie wood is very hard and tough, and- used for making bows and cattle yokes, as also 

 for fuel. The branc hes are numerous and irregular, the young ones four-cornered.^ 

 Leaves elliptic, enti.-'e, on short petioles, four or five inches long, '>ppo.^ite, greer 

 above, dull green below, with midribs and numerous harJ prominent veins The pe- 

 duncles come out from the wings of the leaves, opposite to each other, they are soli- 

 tary, half an incii long, sujiportuig a white sweet-smelling flower. The calvx is one- 

 peialed, in its early sta^e completely enveloping the corolla, like a rose-bud, above 

 tiic genij, and, as it ej^pan is, splits into four or five irregular-seginents. The fruit is 

 siTiJuth, crowned with the calyx, not unlike in shape and size to a pomegranate,.having 

 an agreeaide suit 11, and turnmg yelhjw, wnen ripe ; the rind is about one-eighth of an 

 Ini-h in tiiickii63-i, bri.itle, and fleshy, containing a firm pulp of white, red, or .yellow, 

 coi *ur, in ih? varieties, and of an agreeable taste; full of boav seeds. This fruit is 

 eaten with aviiity b* most people, a!id is of, a re.stringent quality, as well as all other 

 parts of the tree; tue bark of wliicli has been given, to c.ire fl ixs*;, B;>iied or stewe.l, 

 the fi,uit cats iikv Eiigiisn wardens. The rod kind is the most delicate, and has the 

 thinner rind. Tae rind, &<. st-wed in milk, is very agreeable Fr )m the same pi'rt 

 is maJe luannala^ie, and froipthe whole fruit a very fine ieiiy is prep.ire 1. Tne seeds 

 are so hard as to resist the actijan of tne stomach, -so that when voided they will ve<ie- 

 ,tate, and produce thriving trees. The buds, boiled with barley and liquorice, make, 

 an excellent ntis^m for diarriioeas, an I even the bloody flux, when not too inveterate. 

 A decoctioD of tae routs, young leaver, or fruit, is also recommeaded j as also flie 



