$8 I10RTUS JAMA ICE N SIS, *f.KG'JSW 



PENGUIN. BROMF.LIA. 



j*Ci... 6, or?. 1. Hexanlr'a monogi/uia. Nat, or. Chroharia. 



Tifis was so named in memory of Glaus Bromel, a Swede, author of some botanieai 

 yrorks. 



Gen. CHAR. Calyx a three-cornered small perianth, superior, permanent ; divisions 

 three, ovate ; corolla three ^petals, narrow-lanceolate, erect, longer than the 

 calyx : nectary fastened to each petal above the base, converging; stamens six 

 Subulate filaments, shorter than the corolla, inserted into the receptacle; anther* 

 erect, sagittate; the pistil has an inferior germ; a simple filiform style, the 

 length of the stamens ; stigma obtuse, trifid ; pericarp a roundish berry, umbil*- 

 cate, one or threereelled ; seeds numerous, incumbent, somewhat -oblongs 

 obtuse. 



1. PENGUIN. 



'Caraguaia-ocrmga. Sloane, v. 1, p. 248. Caiile ntsurgentiyraeeTtte 

 terminali, frucfibus sejunctis. Browne, p. 193. 



Leaves ciliate-spinv, mucronate ; raceme terminal. 



This plant is very common in Jamaica, and grows wild in savannas and rocky mils. 

 The leaves are very thick about the root, and from the centre springs the stalk, which 

 generally rises to the height of twelve or sixteen inches, above the foliage, and divides 

 into a number of little lateral branches, bearing so many single .flowers, whioh are ex- 

 quisitely beautiful, being composed of red, blue, and purple, colours, variously in- 

 termingled, and surrounded with glossy leaves of -scarlet, orange, and green, with 

 some mixture of white ; which colours fade gradually away as the fruit ripens, which ii 

 described as follows by the accurate Gxrtner : tl It is an inferior berry, of an ovate 

 -pyramidal shape, obscurely three-cornered, covered with rind, which is rugged, thick, 

 suberose- fleshy, with raised confluent dots, producing three membranaceous partitions, 

 on the inside, which meet at the axils ; flesh pulpy, membranaceous, of a pale watery 

 colour, and divided into several partial cells ; no receptacle, but the seeds nestle iii 

 their proper cells, directing their navels towards the axis of the berry ; they are of art 

 Ovate. globular form, swelling, lenticular, narrower at the navel, having a small brown 

 tubercle^ at the top, smooth, shining, of a ferruginous chesnut colour." The fruit is 

 about the size of a walnut, and of a yellow colour when ripe. The pulp has an agree- 

 able sweetnesr, joined with so sharp an acid, that if it remains long in the mouth it will 

 make the palate and gums bleed. A small quantity of this juice in water makes an ad- 

 mirable cooling draught in fevers : a tea spoonful, cerrected with sugar or honey, de- 

 stroys worms in children, cleanses ami heals the thrush, and other ulcerations in ti> 

 mtiQuth and throat, .and is extremely diuretic. In large doses it brings down the cata-i 

 -menia, and causes abortion. As a diuretic, it maybe mixed with Rhenish wine. It 

 also makes good vinegar and wine. This plant is commonly used for making fences^, 

 its leaves being very formidable to cattle, by the thick arched prickles on their 

 edges. These leaves, stripped of their pulp, soaked in water, and beaten with a 

 wnoden mallet, yield a strong silky thread, winch makes good ropes ; and, from iti 

 fineness* is generally used for making- lasaes to #Up s : It t.s also manufactured int 



