4'.'8 JIORTUS JAMAICENSIS. iancfwood 



the sismens have no filpmeBts; anthers numerous, trur.c;ito, oblong, covering tltc 

 .;eriii on yvijich tliey are pluced ; the pistil lies an ovate germ, numerous suits, 

 tlie loiig'th f tlie aniiicrs, Leiniinatiug the hc.id ; stignuis obtuse; tlu- jKnicarp 

 nuaieruus berries, distinct, globular, peduiieleJ, laauiied to an oblong receptu-^ 

 .ic } seeds liumerous. 



TAMCEQI.ATA. lrA^CFD. 



T^oliis^i'afis gldbris utrin-quf acuminatis, Jlorilnis umbclhdalis, iim- 

 bdllulis .ypats:s. Browne, p. '-'ilO. 



Leaves lanceolate, quite entire; fiouers asiHarj', solitary ; branches wand-like. 



Neither the fruct:licalion, nor other parts of this tree, of which thrre are two kinds, 

 seein liitlierio accuriitcly described. Browne places it among those trees, whose flow- 

 ers he had not seen. The calyx is a perianth composed of three obtuse-pointed, 

 broad-based, or semicircidar-likc leaves, which are patent, short, and deciduous: the' 

 corolla has six petals, equal, ovate, concave, reflected, thick, and falling as soon al- 

 most as open ; they are more than f(jur times the length of the cup : the stamens are 

 from liiteen to twentv equal erect filaments, bent or arched upward, thick, adhering 

 to a ciicular gland ; the anthers oblong, and adherent to the exifrior sides of the sta- 

 mens, seeming double ; the germs are oblong, erect, ten or twelve in niitnber, some- 

 what shorter than the stamens, which arc shorter than the petals. The pericarp is a 

 drupe, containing, one seed or stone, of an ovate form, whose proper covering is inse- 

 perable from the kernel, somewhat of a ligneous texture, manv productions of which 

 penetrate into the kernel, as may be observed in the seeds of all the species of annona, 

 to which genus this approaches nearly. The fruit grew one, two, three, or four, upon 

 tiie receptacle, never more than four, and that but seldom, for the receptacle not in- 

 creasing in proportion to the growth of the germs, the latter {rush one another off; 

 tney are each ])etlunculated, and fixed to an oblong receptacle. The berries have a 

 longitudinal furrow running down one side. There are.two species, natives of Jaiiiai6% 



l.ALBA. WHITE. 



Flowers terminating. 



The leaves of this are alternate, of an oblong-ovate form, acuminated at each extre. 

 mitj', smooth and glossy on both sides, of a remarkably deep green above, and some- 

 what p<der beneath, placed upon black, short arcuated pedicels. The corolla is white, 

 the vruit reniform, carnose, somewhat compressed, rostrated at its origin, splitting 

 open on its gibbous side, and displaying a crimson unctuous pulp, in which are divers 

 transverse cells, each containing one kidney-shaped seed. This fruit is eaten by ne- 

 groes and odiers, when roasted, the pulp being reckoned very nutrimental, and is 

 known by the name of wliite-lancewood berries. From the flexibility of its smaller 

 branches, tliey are often used, as birch is in England, for the pumshQient of de^ 

 linquenta. 



2. NIGRA. BLACK. 



Flowers lateral. 



The leaves are entire in their margins, which are somewhat reflected ; from a pale 



green n)id-nb, conspicuous below, arise a few alternate and oblique veins, which are 



gradually lost in the margins. The ripe fruit are of a deep shinmg, blackish-purple 



colour, acumiuated at the extremity. The flowers seem to be placed at the defoliated 



parts 



