4?2 HORTUS JAMAICENSIS. msnMALL0?;'9 



and stand uprig^ht on long footstalks, forming another umbel; I traced this plant from 

 the base of a very long pahneto royal, which was fresh cut down, to the top, and by 

 tliat means came to learn its various appearances^ By cutting a germen I found the 

 fruit ^as peutalocular, and 1 also observed the fruit split lengthways into three valyes.' 



BIARJORAM. ORIGANUM. 



Cl, M, or. 1. Didijnamia gi/mnospermia, Nat. or. Verticillatte. 



Gen. char. Calyx a spiked involucre, composed of imbricate, ovate, colonredj" 

 bractes ; perianth unequal, various; corolla one-petaled, ringent ; stamens four, 

 iiliform, two shorter, with simple anthers ; the pistil has a f()ur-cleft germ, a fili- 

 form st^le, and slin;htly bifid stigma ; there is no pericarp ; calyx converging, fos- 

 tering at bottom uie seeds, which are four, ovate. Two species have been ia- . 

 troduced. 



1. MAJORANA. M.ARJORAM. 



Leaves oral, blunt ; spikes roundish, compact, pubescent. 



This plant, the sweet or knotted vaa.r^oraim, thrives well, and is easily-propagated iri 

 Jamaica. The leaves and tops have a pleasant smell, and a moderately warm aromatic 

 Bitterish taste : they yield a considerable quantity of essential oil, which, when long 

 lept, assumes a solid form. This plant is accounte 1 cephalic, and useful in nervous 

 complaints. !n its recent state, we are told it has been successfully applied to schirrouE. , 

 tumours ot the breasts. WoodviUe.. 



2. ONITES. 



Spikes oblong, aggregate, hirsute ; leaves cordate, tomentose. 

 The pot marjoram also thrives well in Jamaica : it has the habit of the foregoing, buu. 

 more woody. 



MARSHMALLOWS OF JAMAICA SIDA. 



Cl. 16, OR. 6. Ilonadelphia polyandria. Nat. or. Columnifene. 

 Gen. CHAR. Calyx a oncrlcafed, .angular, perianth, half five-cleft, permanent; 

 the corolla has five petals, wider above, emarginate, fastened below to the tube of 

 the stamens ; the stamens very many filatuents, united below into a tube, in the 

 apex of the tube divided, with roundish anthers ; the pistil has an orbicular germ ; 

 styles five or more, or else one, many-cleft ; stigmas beaded ; the pericarp is a 

 roundish angular capsule, composed of five or more cells, (corresponding with the 

 number of styles or stigmas) two-valved, awnless, acuminate or horned, opening 

 above, or close, and finady seperating; seeds solit:u-y, two, three, or five, round- 

 ish, mostly acumiiiaie, convex on one side, angular on the other, fastened to the 

 iaterior suture. Twelve species of tliis genus have been discovered in Jamaica. 



1, ALTH2. 



