4U- II O R T U S J A M A I CE X S 1 9i . mang6^ 



IXDICA. INDUN. 



Leaves simple ; flowers, five-stamencd. 



This beautiful tree was one of those brought to tliis island in June, 1732, anc! takea 

 in a Frencli sliip, bonticl for Hisi)aniola, by Captain Marsliall, of his Majesty's ship 

 Flora, one of Lord Rodney's squadron. Captain Marshall, with the approbation of . 

 Lord Rodney, deposited the mango plants, and a great many others taken in the same 

 vessel, in ]Mr. Ea-t's garden, where they were cultivated with great assiduity and suc- 

 cess ; and have now become one of the coinaionest fruit trees in, Jamaica, in a great . 

 number of its varieties. 



This tree grows ttxa considerable size, in favourable situations, with an upright stem, 

 rough bark, and thick, spreading, elegant head. The wood is of a soft brittle nature. 

 The branches siioot six or eight together at a joint, with an upright one in the centre ; 

 each of them producing branches in the same orderat every foot or eighteen inches dis- 

 tance, according to the size of the tree ; forming a beautiful round foliated head. 

 The leaves come out alternately at the ends of the twigs, seven or eight inches long, 

 and two or diree broad, ovate-lanceolate, petioled, having a strong rmd-rib, and many 

 irregular parallel veins; they are reddish brown at first, but becon>e, when sometime 

 exposed to the air, of a bright shining green above, paler below. The flowers are pro- 

 duced in loose bunches or panicles at the ends of the branches, male, female, and her- 

 riaphrodite, on the same bunch. In the perfect flowers the calyx consists of five acute 

 spreading leaflets ;. the corolla, w-hich is inferior, of five oblongflat petals, reflex at 

 the tip, white, v.uh yellow streaks at the base, longer than the calyx ; nectary sphe- 

 roidal, large, fleshy, five-lobed, compressing the germ ; stamens shorter than the co- 

 rolla, with five ovate- noddiirg anthers; style short; stigma round, reddish; gernx 

 round; tile plant is evidently polygamous. Tiie fruit is pendent oh long woody 

 footstalks, of a roundisfi oblong figure, varying much in size and form, iis-well as tex- 

 ture, on different trees ; it is generally flattish, ,and sinuated. or hoi lowed- at the sides, 

 and somewhat kidney-sliaped, covered with a thick skin, which is first green, then 

 yellowish, and lastly mixed with a beautiful reddish colour, and is easily peeled off 

 when the fruit is ripe ; the pulp, which surrounds the seed, is yellowish, something 

 like that of the peach, in some of the kinds stringy, in others free of fibres, of a very 

 agreeable sweet-acid taste, and, as well as other parts of the tree, has a slight not un- 

 pleasant smell of turpentine. The seed is oblong, flat, hard, one^celled, coiitaininw 

 an oblong kernel of . a bitter taste. Its umbilical chord is very short, arisin-Tfrom the 

 bottom of the shell, and inserted into th.e. margin of the kernel, which lias a papery 

 skin. Embryo upright, white ; cotyledons fleshy, plano-convex ; radicle short, curved 

 irv upwards, inferior^ . 



This fruit is very justly and generally esteemed wholesome and agreeable ; in some 

 of tlie varieties it is indeed delicious. When taken from the tree before theA' are fully 

 ripe, they make a good preserve, sweetnjeat, or pickle ; and, when brougiit to table 

 cooked in puddings or dumplings, have a near resemblance in taste to apples. Hon^s, 

 as well as other animals, ar.e very fond of this fruit, and, in many places where they 

 abound, are fed upon them. Tiiis plant is easily raisetl from the seetl, but does not 

 bear transplanting well, and will bear in three or four years ; they bear abundantly, and 

 make a beautiful appearance both when in flower and in fruit, and thrive well in almost 

 eyery situation. 



In the ftaist Indies the tender leaves, with the bark of xh^ricinus, or oU-nut, and . 



CUOIU 1 



