^ HORTUS JAMAICEKSr?^ iAACjfo- 



JAACK-TREF. ARTOOARPUFi. 



Cl. 21, eip. l.Monoeciamenandvia, Nat, ok, Urtic/e. . 

 Gfn. CHAR. ;5'6i?Bread-Fiuit, /7, 111. 



INTEGKIFOLIA. ENTIRE- LEAVED, 



Leaves entire. 



Tlic tnaie Houers are arrangei.! alang; the surface of. a thick fleshy oblong. receptacle ; 

 the uiuliors are sessile ami adliere, apjjcanng as yellow poiiit.s ; the female fluivers are 

 anaiigyd along the surface of a sunilai: recypt-^-iCj and appear as so niajiy clammy points 

 to catch the dust of the anthoi's. At the rtvot of its receptacle, where tlie footstalk en- 

 ters, is a protuberant ring, and tbereceptacle and young,.siioot together are at first in- 

 closed by a coloured sputhe, which quickly drops off. The iDule ilowers, having im- 

 pri'gnaled the female, that receptacle turn^ black, withers, and drops off. The female 

 receptacle or germ enlarges to the fniit, which contains a numluT of naked.seeds, oval, 

 aiid. smooth, whcii fresli, bat, when drv, tlie outer tikin shrivcis up. The seed has an 

 eye near the middle, and consists cf only oneJobe, or cotylidoii. Tlie root is perenial, 

 tlie stem. cylindj-icaU. 



This beautiful and excellent fruit tree was brought, to Janiaica in his Majesty's ship 

 Providence, in th_e. jear 179 J, at the same time that the bread-fruit was introduced, 

 and has.been since ver}' generally cultivated, as it thrives well in almost every part of 

 the island. Its growth is rapiti, and it rises in a beautiful pyramidal form, branching 

 almost to, the ground, with a ve.'^y dense foliage, to a considerable size. A tree twelve 

 years (Ai\, from the seed, measured twejity-tive feet high, and the stem was full fifteen 

 inches in diameter; the branches extended fifteen feet. on each side. The bark of both 

 trunk and branches has many knotty protuberances. The branches are spreading, and 

 shoot out alternately ; the twigs have little brown excrescences, or prominent dots ; 

 the leaves are ovute-ohlong, smooth,, shining, dark green above, and pale green be- 

 low, from six to eight inches long, and three to four broad, in a luxuriant tree ; they 

 come out alternately from, the ends of the twigs, covered with, or wrapped in, stipules 

 in pairs, which speedily fall. off and expose the young leaves, .<=omewhat hirsute and 

 serrate, which disappcai; as they grow old. Tlic leaves Jiave a strong mid-rib and pro- 

 minent veins. TliQ peduncles are.frequently more than an inch thick, and a foot or 

 two long, having leaves, with two or three, or more, strong pedicels, all pendulous, 

 from the great weight of the fruit, which often weighs from twenty-five to thirty 

 pounds. The petluijcles shoot ft-om the sides of the branches and trunk of the tree. 

 The fruit is very large and of an irregular figure, inclining to oval.,Jiaving a very rough 

 warted coat, which contains a multitude of seeds, enveloped in a thick gelatinous co- 

 vering, which, eaten either raw or fried, is delicious ; the seeds are nearly round, 

 about half an inch in diameter, aiid, eaten roasted, have a .very raeally and agreeable 

 taste. Every part of this fruit, except the seeds, has a strong disagreeable smell, 

 which is removed b}: washing in salt and water. The tree bears almost all the year 

 round, containing at the same tinie fruit of all siae^. Every part of this plant.is full of 

 a milky clammy juice, of an insipid taste, and easily convertible into caoutchouc. - 

 The wood is of a^oft brittle naturej And ot .no use in ..build in g ^ it is propagated from 

 ^eds which gJXiw very cjuicklj'. 



" ' <JwrtQeri 



