473 TlortTUS JAMA I CRN SI 5. WAT-aMS 



Tl;is allmii'Jilo plant hath its nair.o froni Ma'ioe, an old negro woman so callel, who^ 

 will) a simple decoction, did vvondLnful cmt-s in the most sIuIjIkm n diseases, as the 

 \;iws, and in venereal case-, when the perjon has-been given ovt>r as inciuahioby 

 .skili'nl pii3sicKu>.s, because tlRirHcrcnlean medicir.cs Tailed tlitm, tiz. preparaU(,r.s of 

 mercury and antinion}-. It is niso calJed iMac.iry bitter, from its growing in great 

 plenty in the Ijay of Macary, and. being -a-verv biltev plant. I in>'t with some of it 

 gi'owing in a sldrt of wood near St.^Jago ile laiV^ega, in Jamaica : It was but a ssnall 

 tree that Isaw, with winged leaves much hl:c tiie D'nglish asli ; the flower I never ;,axv; 

 butthc fruit is in ciitsters, i i siiapc and bigness ofilie (anary.grape, first green,, ih.eti 

 of a bright ec^r^et, an.l when full-rii>e4!s biack.as a damascene ulii nib : It iiatii a yel- 

 lowish ])ulp, witli a sub-bitter taste ; then a large st>)ne, with a kernel or seed in it, all 

 YCry bitter. This plant was first shewn to me by a pluiit.-r, who had done many cxctl- 

 lent cures amongst his negro slaves, in old inveterate stubborn ulcers, and tliat by only 

 'boiling the Dark and leaves, orHowers and fruit if thcyhappen to be on the tre<?, whon 

 i'anted to make use of, giving them plentifully to drink, ;uitl washing tiie sores with 

 some of the decoction ; then lajing over them a leaf of the jack- in the bu>h, until liieir 

 sores were healed. liarhtnn, p. 96. 



The plant, upon repeated trials, has been found deserving of the high encomirrs 

 glassed upon it by Barnaul. A wine-glass full of a strong decoction of the leaves is re- 

 j;oimended as a dose for a strong adult. I'he leaves become purple when they begu 

 .| dry. 



BIaiz Sec Great-Corn. 



Xo English Name. . MALAXIS. 



Cl. CO, OR. 1. Gynandyia (liandria. 'N.iT. ou. Orchidets, 



This is derived from a Greek word signif) ing to soften. 



Gen. char. There are no spathes nor perianth ; the corolla has five petals three 

 outer, of which two upper oneJower; lanceolate, blunt, spreading; two inner 

 linear, acute, i-eBex about the germ ; nectary in the middle of the coroila, les* 

 .than the petals, concave, with convex margins, -cordate, acuminate behind, bifi.J 

 in front ; the stamer.s.are two ovate anthers, scarcely pedicelled, inserted into the 

 pitcher of the pistil at the edge, sitting on two little excavations at the bottom; 

 . the pistil lia.i a pedicelled germ, somewhat cylmdric, inferior; style a pitcher iu 

 the middle of the nectarj-, halved, very short, spreading, bearing the stamens on 

 its hinder margin ; stigma before the little excavations, /lear the anthers ; the pe- 

 ricarp is a pedicelled capsule, oblong, three-keeled, one-celled, opening undei 

 the keels, cohering at top and bottom ; seeds extremely minute. There are twe 

 species, discovered in Jamaica by bwartz. 



1, SPICATA. SPIKED. 



Scapes quadrangular ; flowers in spikes. 



2. UM BELurLOR.'l. UMBEL- FLO'.VEREB. 



Scape quinnuangular; flowers umbcUed, 



X^JALLOW^i 



