hs.\JO-Z rrORTUS JAMAICENSIS^. 4T7 



Tliis generic name is doiived from two Greek wcrds bignlfjing bitter shrab, the 

 whole [jlant being, remarkably bitter. 



Gen. char. Male calyx ri' one -leafed perianth, three or five- parted ; segnients 

 lanceolate, erect; corolla three or irve petals, lanceolate, from erect spreading, 

 longer than the calyx ; stamens three or fi\e fdaments, awl-shaped, appi'oximat- 

 ing at the base, erect, longer tlian the corolla ;- anthei-s ovate, twin. The tT'malc 

 calyx as in the male, permanent; corolla the same; the piitil has an oblong geno,- 

 somewhat compressed ; styles two, short, rcciu'vetl, permanent ; stigmas simple, 

 acute ; the pericarp an ovate-roundish berry, two-celled ; seeds two in each ceil, 

 ovate oblong, bwartz describes three stamens, a three-parted calyx, and fhree- 

 j>ctaled corolla* - 



ANTIDESMA^ 



Scyha-is'fmictu fruticosa raccmosa, fra.rini fnlioafafn, friiciu iit^ry 

 ilipijiuito. Slo'ane, v: 2, p. 101, t. 208, f. 2. Frulifosa, ramidix 

 Ici^/tdus, racemis laxis terminalibus, Browne, p. 123. 



I?acemes very long ; flowers three-stamened. 



This tree is small, with an upright, weak, evcn^ trunk; branches sub-divided, roc?- 

 like, spreading, bendin- ^own, smoothisli, with an asli-colonred l)ark. Leaves pin- 

 nate, a foot long or more ; leahets petioled, alternate, elliptic, with a biunt top, en- 

 tire, nerved, and veined, smooih, bent down each way by the side of the petiole. 

 Petioles roundish, spreading, (rising from a swelling joint) smooth ; pctiolets very 

 short, pubt-^scent, brownish, (:iLso from a swelling joini). Racemes terminating, from 

 one to two feet in.:length, fidfor.n, striated, looso^ pendulous, many- flowered ; flow- 

 ers alternately congloiuen.tr, peduncled, v/lruj.sj). green ; peduncles from five to seven, 

 clustered, whitish, longer than the ilo-wers. - Males deciduous, ("aiyx thri e-parted. 

 Petals thiee, iilanwnts three, antbers rufous.- Females the same size with tne males. 

 Berries oblong, tlie size of a gooseberry when ripe, two-celleil. cells two-seeded, at 

 fi.'st scarlet, then lilack. Itia-ldoked upon as anti-venereal, and the negrocs.commonly 

 use an infusion of it ii> colic. - An infusion of the bark is deemed aiv exceient remedy 

 in intermittent fevers, and in affections ai the bowels and sconiacii. It flowers iq^ 

 August, and the fruit is ripe in November. Sw. 



This plarii:,- sometimes trailed Tom Bo)i/ein\<: hus/i, zn(\ oliT s'ovia>i''s hitler, is com- 

 mon in coppices and the skirts of woods in Jatuaica, and all parts at it have a bittef 

 taste. That of the leaves isamixtHw; of bitter and sweet. The fruit is commonly 

 divided into two cells, bya.tliin septum, to which the seeds adhere, which are of a 

 chesnut colour Sometimes there is but one cell and one seed, and at other times two 

 seeds in each cell rhe fruit is, before.it turns mellow, of a lowly shining red; but 

 ripens into a. very black colour, having a soft ycllowi-sh pnlp. It is aljoiit three-fourths 

 of an inch long. Tlie seeds vary in form agreeable to their number in the cells. Whea 

 there is but one it is of an ovate gently dejyressed form ; when there arc two thev re- 

 semble colfae seeds ; when three the one is like the coffee seed, the other two trigonal ; 

 when four they are ah trigonal. The tree sometiu es rises to the height of twentv feet, 

 when it can lean conveniently upon any support. The bark ii bwvn ; tJio branches 

 reij i^w. The coQiOion height about eight or nine feet. 



Ti4r^ 



