cisf.tsTuu3i HORTUS JAMAIC'ENSIS. 437 



Breed thefr tectli eas)-, and prevent cramps and convulsion?. Tliey are of a mere 

 infauufiil red tliau red coral ; and, it' fit for nothing else, they n>ake beantifiit necklaces. 

 I knew a ^eiitieman in Jamaica that made a tea of the leaves, and drank of it many 

 years, which he said kept him ni good health. ] have often ordered a ptisan of the 

 leaves with good success in cholics. Tiic root of this jiLmt, aithouoh it nath not tlie 

 taste of liquorice,. ,yet it hath the colour, Ijoth ontside and inside, of" Englisli liquorice 

 root. I have observed sheep to feed greedily upon its leaves. Baf/iam, p S8. 



The infusion of the leaves and tops is much used in all our sugar colonies, and oh- 

 .sgrved to ojien both tlie body and skin \ ery unldly ; it helps expectoration ; relieves alt 

 loads of the breast, ]>roceeding j'roni temporary colds; and is frequently used as a di- 

 luent in fevers ; and the more generally liked as tlie taste is somewhat sweetish, but 

 does not leave any clamminess upon tlie palate. The 'seeds are of a very deleterious 

 nature, and. .cannot he t ken inwardly without great danger; though, if swallowed 

 whole, tiiey commonly pass entn-e, and arc seklom attended with any of those violent 

 pymptoms that follow, when taken in powder, which always- works both upwards and 

 downwards, with the tireatcst violence ; the operation being attendeil with anxiety and 

 convulsive spasms. Herman .says that three or four seeds is a mortal dose, but that he 

 has made an extract from the roots no wa}- inferior to that obtained from the roots of 

 liquorice. Broxt.'ne. 



'J'his plant was removed from the genus glycine by Linncus for which see die articles 

 Hed-Bead Tree and Vine. 



iYo EngUsFi Nawe. I.ISIANTHU5, 



C'l.. 5, O.I.I. Pentandria vionogynia. Nat. or. Ro'acdP. 



This name is derived from two Greek words signifying smooth and a (lower. 



f*EN. CU.\R. Calyx -a five-parted ])erianth ; leaflets lanceolate, keeled, mcmbrana-, 

 ceous on the margin, very .shoi't, permanent; corolla one-petaled, fnnncl-form ; 

 tube long, somev'.iiat ventricose, straitenetl at the ba.se within the caly.x ; bordct- 

 five-parted; divisions lanceolate, shorter than the tube, recurved; tiu! stamen'? 

 five filaments, filiform, .longer than-the tube, with ovate incumbent anthers ; the 

 pistil has an oblong .barp-]5ointed germ, a filiform style, the length of the sta- 

 mens, permanent ; stigma headed, two-plated ; trie pericarp is an oblong capsule, 

 acuminate, two-celled; the margins of the valves intorted ; seeds numerous. 

 Five specias are natives of Jamaica. 



I. LQXCIFOLIUS. tONG-LEAVED. 



Jiapuncuhis frulkosus linifoUus, Jlorc lutto fptcicxp, foliis ex ailrerso^ 

 jf'fis. 81oane,.v. 1, p. 157^ t. 101, f. 1. rectus, foliis lanceolui^- 

 Jioribus singularibus tennuiidibus. Bvownc^, p. 157, t. 9, f l. 



Leaves lanceolate ; segments of the corolla lanceolate, acute. 



Tiiis elegant plant Browne says rises fourteen or si>;teen^ inches, Sloane four or fire 

 feet. The branches and twigs are woody ; tjie branches sho'-ting coilimonly to the 

 Same heitiht, and furnished with oblong-pointed, pctioled, opp iv,;e, leaves, each pair 

 abijutan inch distant ; thc\- are about an inch and a half long, and half as broad i'. the 



Nniju middlcj . 



