90. EORTUS JAM.AICENSfS, ponis 



green on the outside, and commonly hispid, with bristly hairs, witbin4ijfringss$ongyflesh, 

 divided in the middle into three primary cells, each of which is double, and these arc 

 sub-divided into the proper c< lis of the seeds, which are very numerous, horizontal, 

 elliptic, of a coaipres., I lens shape, whitish, encircled' with a rounded tumid margin, 

 and within that with a raised line : it has four coats, the outmost very thin and trans- 

 parent; the next leathery, brittle, and white ; the third somewhat fleshy and green; 

 and the inmost membranaceous and cob-webbed: albwnen none; embtio elliptic, 

 >\ hite ; seed-k ares fleshy, slightly convex. oit-tbe outsjde, flat within, veiny wrinkled. 

 - Gartner i Therfruit varies in form and size ; two hundred and sixty of them, on an 

 average the size of half a peck, have been produced from a single plant in New Eng- 

 land. The pompion, in several of its varieties, thrives well in Jamaica, and is culti- 

 vated in most negro provision grounds, as an article of food they are -very fond of. It 

 is uncertain whence it was introduced, -hut most probably from America. If gathered 

 when not much bigger than a hen or goose egg, and properly seasoned with butter, 

 vinegar, &c. they make a- tolerable good sauce for butcher's meat, and may also be used 

 in soups. In England, when they are grown to maturity, a hole is made on one side, 

 through which the pulp and seeds are scooped out, daaid the latter being picked out, 

 the pulp is mixed with sliced apples, milk, sugar, and grated nutmeg; the whole is 

 then returned into the shell, and baked in an oven, which goes by the name of: pumpkin 

 pj/e. They grow to a large size in Jamaica ; Mr. A. Robinson mentions that he saw 

 one which weighed forty-si.v pounds. Barham observes, that too much of them cause 

 surfeits and levers. An infusion or decoction of the seeds is a powerful diuretic. 

 -.SVe.GotRD Squash Water-Melon. 



POND-WEED. POTAMEGETON. 



Cl. 4, or. 3. Tttrandria tetragynia. Nat. or. Inundatie. i 



This generic name is derived from Greek words signifying near a river; these plants 

 growing in or near water. 



Gen. char. No calyx ; corolla four roundish petals, obtuse, concave, erect, clawed, 

 deciduous; stamens four filaments; anthers twin, short ; the pistil has four ovate- 

 acuminate germs, no st\Je, obtuse stigma; there is no pericarp; seeds four, ona- 

 celled, roundish. One species has been found in Jamaica- 



LUCENS. SHINING. 



Potamogelon aquis immerswm folio pclhiriJo, lata, ollongo, acuto.~ 

 Sloane, v. 1, p. 141. Aquaticum foliis oblongis, Jloribus spicatis. 

 Browne, p. 150. 



This aquatic plant is very common in those little rivulets about the Ferry ; the nar- 

 rowness of its leaves proceed* probably from its long, continuance under water.- 



See Duckweed. 



Pope's-TIeads See Melon Thistle. 

 Poponax See Cashaw. 

 Poppy See Yellow-Thistle* 



Wo 



