SQi nORTUS JAMAICENSIS. milkWOOR 



m Englisn Name. MENTZ F.LI A, 



Cl. 13, OR. 1. Folyandriaviono^ynia. 'Nat. or. Calycanthcmte. 

 ^' -So named in menioiy ot' Clinstian Meinzelius, physician to the Elector of Brandcn- 

 Aurgii, who was tiie author of some botanical worJis. 



GtN. CHAR Calyx a five-leaved perianth, spreading!;, superior, deciduous ; leaflets 

 lanceolate, concave, acumiaate; corolla live petals, ub-ovatc, acununate, a little 

 longer than the calyx, spread i n j^ ; stamens many filaments (thirty), the length of 

 tiie calyx, erect, bnstle-shaped, the ten outer membranaceous ; anthers roundish ; 

 the pistil has a cyimdric gernt, very long, inferior; a filiform style, the length of 



. the stamens, an J a simple blunt stigma ; the pericarp is a cylindric capsule, long, 

 one-celled, thrce-vahed at top ; seeds about six, oblong, angular. There is only 



' one species. 



ASPER.\. ROUGH. 



"Setis iiacinatis viunita, foliis lobatis,fructibus singularibus sesst'libus 

 ad divaricaiioncs ramorian. Browne, p. 249. 



' ;The tufted herbaceous mentzelia is very common among the Imslies in all the dry 



cavannas about Kiag^ton. It is an annual plant, rising with a woodj- smooth stem, three 



.feet high, branching alternately ; the branches distorted, and running into one ano 



. ther ; leaves shaped like the point of a halbert, alternate, on short footstalks, covered 



with short hooded ))rickles, which fasten themselves to whatever rubs against them. 



The tlovvers come out singly from the joints of the stalk, resting upon a cylindrical 



germ, which is near an inch in length, narrow at the base, but widening upwards ; 



upon the top of it comes the calyx, spread open ; then the petals spread open upon 



the calyK, of a pale yellow colour. Capsule rough, inversely conical, succulent before 



it is ripe, but then dry, with three longitudinal grooves, and wrinkled ; seeds flatted, 



ovate, narrower at top, roughened with little prominent points. Browne observes that 



. the plant is easily distinguished by its yellow flowers, tufted form, and stiflr uncinated 



bristles ; the seeds iu:e disposed at some distance from each other in the pulp. Barhaoj 



-calls this onagra, from the resemblance the flower bears to that plant. 



MILKWOOD. BROSIMUM. 



Cl. 22, OR. 1. Dioeciamonandria. Nat. oa. 

 .Cen. char. ^fc Bread-Nut, p. 1 14. 



SPURIUM. 

 Jjaurijelia arbor venenata folio acmninaio, copicsum lac prehcns cxqitp 

 mspissato viscus aiicupum paratiir. Sloane, v. 2, p. 21, t. 167, i, 

 1, 2. Foliis ablongis glabris alternis. Browne, p. 369. 



Leaves lanceolate-ovate, acuminate; aments pedicelled, ovate, axillary, in 

 pairs ; fruit soft. 

 This tree grows to a considerable size, and is accounted a good timber wpod. The 

 braucUes are beset with twigs, bearing leaves, on inch Jong pedicels, which are smooth, 



thick; 



