^i^ HORTUS JAMAICENSI* .|.jiiorige 



broad, smooth, serrate, anJ of a deep green oolour. The flo\ver>5 come out from tha 

 ^ule of the stalk ;it each joint, on short peduncles ; tliey are small, v\hit". and the pe- 

 .tals have bearded threads on their edges; the capsule is h-ht brown, nuiribn-naceous, 

 CO bi'_cger tlian a pin's head, containing many tiar il y perccntibie seeds, stan iin-; roui!/! 

 a fungous substance. This plant is very c. nimoii ii; most oi the sugar couiies, and the 

 leaves have a sweet taste like liquorice." Browne says the whole plant, eipecialliy the 

 tender shoots at the top, are frequently used in diluting and pectoral infusions, uiul 

 may be deservedly considered as an f-x-ellent vulnerary. Buihar.i savs, that three 

 spoonfids of the exnressed juice of this plant, given morning and nightifor i! ree or 

 four days, is an infallible remedy for a eoujb. $.>aie plaatcrs use this as an uigreuicut 

 4,a diet drinks for vetiereal disorders. 



XIQUORICE, WILD. ABRUS. 



Cl. 17, oit. 4. Diadelphia decandria. Nat. or. Leguiiiinosa. 

 This takes its generic name from a Greek word sigiiifying soft, from the extreme 

 i-enderness of its leaves. 



Gen. char. Calyx a one-leafed, bell-siiaped perianth, obscurely fonr-lobed : teeth 

 blunt, the upper one broader than the rest; corolla papilionaceous; banner 

 roundish, entire, ascending, flatted at the sides, longt-r than the wings and keel ; 

 wings oblong, blunt ; keel oblong, sickle-shaped, gibbous, longer than th.-" wi;ig> ; 

 the stamens-are nine filaments, united into a sheath, cloven above, free at the en i, 

 unequal, rising; anthers ibl ng, erecc ; the pistil has a cyiindric hairy gcrii ; 

 style subulate, rising, shor:e, than the stamens ; stigma in form of a be^d, and 

 small; the pericarp a legume like a rhomb, compressed, cona-.eon^ ;va!vt '., 

 four or five-ce'led, acuminate, with a little subuLte defl -s claw; seeds solitjvyj 

 (Sub-globose. Tiiere is only one species, a native ofjamaica. 



PRF.CATOniUS. P'lAYlXG. 



JPhcifeolus gli/cyrrhizitf"!. fcho altito piso cnccineo atra waada yu ' fo. 



Sloane, V. I, p 180, t. 112, f. 4, 5, G. Scandens, Joliolis pinnatis, 



spicis nodosis a.villuribus. Browne, p. 297. 

 This is a perennial plant, with slender, shrubby, branching, stalks, about the bigness 

 of a o^oose-quill, by winch it-rises to the height of eight or tt n teet, v\hen it meets with 

 support, and is common among the bushes in all the low lands. The leaves are pin- 

 nate, ending abruptly, and have from twelve to si.vteen pairs of small, smooth, obionir, 

 blunt, leaflets, set close together ; these have the taste of licjnorice, as has the whole 

 plant. The flowers are produced from the sides of the stalks in short spikes or bunches, 

 of a pale purple colour, and shaped like those of the kidney bean ; they are succeeded 

 by short smooth pods, each containing.three or four hard seeds, very smooth, of a bright 

 scarlet colour, with a black spot or eye on that side which is fastened to the pod. They 

 are frequently strung and worn as necklac&s and other ornaments ; and were used ai 

 beads for rosaries, whence the trivial name prtcatonus. 



It grows in both the Indies. In the East Indies they make necklaces of the fruit or 



pCiis, which tliey say prevent the children tliat wear liiem from the fever, make thera 



'p breei 



