iTO- HORTU JAMAICENSia. MAHOGANlf, 



in copf.ices nenr the coast. Its common name is Congo mahoe, the negroes affirming 

 UiHt ii ca.iie oriyiiialiy (Vom Africa. Sii\ Sloaiic says it grew on the Red liills very 

 pleatiluiiy. 



See Changeable-Rose Indian Sorrel IMusk-Ochra Ochra. 



MAHOGANY. SWIETENIA. 



Cl. 10, OR. 1. Decandria monogynia. Nat. or. Trihilatoc. 



Tliis generic name was given in honour of G. L. B. a Svvieten, at whose persuasion 

 the Empress Maria Teresa founded the botanic garden at V^ienna. 

 ~Gen. char. Calyx a one-leafed perianth, five-c!eft, (rotated) obtnse, ver}' small, 

 deciduous ; corolla five petals, nnich longer than the caly.x, ob-ovatc, obtuse, 

 concave, spreading ; nectary one-leafed, cylindric, somewhat shorter than the 

 ))Ctals ; mouth ten-toot!ied ; the stamensten filaments, very small, inserted below 

 the teeth of the nectary ; with oblong, erect, anthers ; the pistil has an ovate 

 gertn ; style awl-shaped, erect, length of the nectary ; stigma headed, flat ; the 

 pericarp is an ovate capsule, large, woody, one-celled, at the top five-celled, 

 live-valved ; valves opening at the base ; seeds very many (more than fifty), im- 

 bricate, compressed, oblong, ob-ovate, having a Leafy wing ; receptacle large, 

 ^five-cpraered. One species is a native of Jamaica. 



' MAIIAGONI. MAHOGANY. 



Fotiis pinnatis, fioribus sparsis, Ugno graviori. Browne, p. 15S. 



Xeaves pinnate, aljoiit four-paired ; leaflets ovate- lanceolate, equal at the base;- 

 panicles axillary. 



The mahogany is a loftv.and very branching -tree, with a wide handsome head ; leaves 

 reclining, alternate, siiining, eight inches long, numerous on the younger branches 4 

 leaflets for the most part four-pan-s, but often three, seldom five, without any odd one, 

 falcate-lanceolate, quite entire, acuminate, bent in backwards, petioled, opposite, eiu 

 inch and a half long ; racemes sub- cor\inbed, with about eight flowers in each, axU- 

 larj', solitary, two inches long ; flowers small, whitish Jacquin. Capsule large, 

 (sometimes attaining the size of a child's head) wood^', ovate, of a smoaky-rufescenl' 

 colour (or ferruginous), towards the top five-celled, but in other parts widely one- 

 celled, five-valved ; valves thick, opening from the base, caducous, covered within by 

 a thick flexile, coriaceous, lamina, exactly equal to them in size. Receptacle central, 

 free, woody, five-cornered, from a narrower base widening mucli, and thickening up- 

 wards, but narrowing again at the point, and, on each side of the pyramid, having a' 

 double row of very small scars, into which tUe seeds are inserted. Seeds numerous, 

 collected into five bundles, nnbricate downwards, compressed, yellowish-rufescent, or 

 cinnamon-coloured, having a nucleus below, but ending above \n a long membranace- 

 ous wing. G^ertner. Linneus remarks, that this tree has a great affinity with cddrela, 

 or the common cedar of Jamaica, and the capsules are nearly alike, but those of the 

 -cedar much smaller in every respect ; the germ and the fruit are also very similar. 

 "The flov/cr agrees in many respects with that oimclia. 



This 



