.MEXOCII^ HORTUS^ JAMAICENSI3. a 50,1 



Culm gcniculateU, compressed, to feet high ; leaves hartl, yetlowish grcon co- 

 loured, narrow, nine inclies long. Panicle three-quarters of au inch long. Lower, 

 valve of the calyx ob- ovate, blunt, ver^- large, coloured; upper valve only one-sixth 

 of the size, remote from the loner, scariose, and coloured at the. top; ftoweis two, 

 alternate, besides the rudiment ; outer petal to each oblong, striated ; the middle ones 

 nmricated, the side ones ciliate with many bristles, but the apex of the petal is scan- 

 ose, with * thin even membrane, biunt, and coloured; inner petal simple; rudiment 

 oblong. 



No English Name. . MELOCHIA, 



Cr.. 16, on. 2. Monadelphiapentajidriit. Nat. ou. Cohnnmfcr<e. 



^EN. CHAR. Calyx a perianth, often double; outer one-sided, three-leaved ; inner 

 one-leafed, half five-cleft ; segments half-ovate, acute, permanent ; corolla fivst 

 petals, oly-cordatc, spreading, large ; the stamens five fdaments, awi-shaped, 

 united at the base into a pitcher involving the gertn,.vrith simple anthers; the 

 pistil has a roundish germ, five awl-shaped styles, erect, the length of the sta- 

 mens, permanent ; stigmas simple; pericarp a roundish or five-cornered capsule, 

 five-celled, five^valved ; valves acute, partitions contrary, doubled ; the seeds 

 solitary, or in pairs, on one side roundish, on the other angular, compressed. 

 Six species are natives of Jamaica. 



1. PVR.WJID.'iTA. PYRAMIDAL- 



.^^^^ Ahutilon hcrbacemru, procumbens, hclonwie folio-, flore- pjirpttveo.- 



Sloane, v. 1, p. 220, t. 1:59, f. 1. Jlcrhcuea toinissim*' r.nnosa, 

 foliis cblnngo oiafis, Jioruin umbellulis laicralibus foliis appvoxima- 

 tis. Browne, p. 276.. ^ 



Flowers umbslled ; capsules pyramidal five-coraered ; iJingles muoronate ; 

 leaves naked. 



Stem shrubby at the base, branched, a foot hfgh ; branches depi-esaed, diffusedj-- as- 

 cending", simple, smooth ; leaves alternate,. ovate-acuminate, serrate, nerved, smooth; 

 pe.tiole shorter than tlie leaver somewhat erect, slender; flowers pedunclcd, sub-um- 

 belled ; peduncles lateral, opposite to the petioles, solitary, the length of the petioles, 

 three- flowered ; corollas small^ hlood-red, frequently closed ; calyx five-toothed,, 

 teeth erect, lanceolate, acute; claws of the petals yellow at the base ; border sub-erect, 

 entire, blunt. Capsule menibrsnaccousj vascular, netted, from a ventricose bag 

 rising into a sliort pyramid, haviag five narrow wings at^ the corners, produced near 

 the base. into a horizontal dagger point ; the valves open along these wings, and arc 

 accompanied within by a ntiddle septum. Seeds solitary, oblong, cornered, or angled^ 

 Browne describes it as a very elegant little plant, v.hich he found among penguins near 

 Old Haxbour, shooting to the height of three feet or better, with a very slender and 

 weakly stem, requiring support. The flowers are disposed in small umbels, generally 

 placed pretty near, and on one side of the footstalks of the leaves,, each is composed 

 ? five or -six raj,s fixed upon a common peduncle. 



2. DtPHESSA. 



