THEA-cow HORTUS JAMATCENSIS 409 



brated in iTterine obstructions, the jaundice, and for thtov\ing out the small pox. 

 Tiieir sfUiitjlo qi/olities, however, give little iouniuLKjii tor these virtues : the^ have 

 scarce any taste, and have no considerable smell The leaves of the plant discover a 

 viscid sweetness, accompanied with a more durable saponaceous pungency and warmth ; 

 these seem capable of answering some useful purposes as a stimulating, aperient, and 

 antiscorbutic, iiieditiue, 



M.^sTic ^'ee Bast.apd Bully Tkei:. 

 Mattee iiee Fig-Tkkes. 



MEADOW GRASS. POA. 



'Cl. 3, OR. 2. Triandria digj/nia. NaT. or. Gramina. 



Gen. CHAR. Calyx a many-flowered, tvvo-vaived glume ; corolla two-valved ; nec- 

 tary two-leavccl; stamens tluee capillary filaments, with forked anthers; tlie pistil 

 has a roundish gerui, two retiex viliose styles, and similar stigmas ; there is no pe- 

 ricarp, the corolla cleaves to ttie seed, and does not (.^pc'ii ; seed single, oblong;, 

 acuminate, compressed ou both sides, covered. Three species are indigenous to 

 Jaiuuica. 



i. GLUTINOSA. CLAMMY. 



Gramini trcmu/o I'J/iue, panicidaiuvi elegans mmi'mum. Sloane, v. 

 1, p. lU, t. 71,"f. 2. 



Panicle spreading, strict; spikelets seren to nine-flowered, somewhat hirsute^ 

 glutinous ; culm simple ; leaves somewhat hairy. 



Culm one or two feet high, sub-erect, very slender, strict, round, smooth, jointed 

 below ; leaves short, linear, acute, concave, spreading, hairy, or somewhat hirsute, 

 the hairiness thin and clammy. Sheaths hirsute. Panicle two inches long, somewhat 

 hirsute; branches alternate, distant, simple, few-flowered; spikelets distinct, three 

 to six on a branchlet, purple, pedicelled. Calycine valves acute, keeled, minute. 

 CoroUine glumes a little larger, ovate, acute, keeled, flatted a little ; the inner ciliate, 

 when examined by a magnitier ; with that advantage the keel also appears serrulate. 

 Filaments very short ; anthers dark purple ; stigmas hairy, whitish ; seed roundish, 

 very minute. It is an annual grass, in dry sand. S\v. Sloane says it grows plenti-t 

 fully in the savannas about Spanish Town. 



2. PROLIFERA. PROLlFERpUS. 



Panicle spreading, strict ; spikelets many-flowered (sixteen to twenty) ; cuim 

 very much branched, knobbed, proliferous at the joints. 



Culm a fathom high, or more, upright ; branches sub-divided, round, striated, 

 smooth ; joints knobbed, leafy, proliferous as it were with the origins of a younger 

 plant : leaves in bundles, linear, setaceous, commonly convoluted, sheathing, erect, 

 even. Panicles a span and more in length, branched, erect ; brauclilets sub-divided, 

 capillary, strict, flexuose; spikelets pedicelled, lanceolate, compressed; calycine 

 valves equal ; coroUine valves ovate, acuminate, keeled ; filaments two or three ; an- 

 rfiers pale ; stigmas viilose. S-x. 



' - S S S 2 3. CILLi.RIS, 



