12p HORTUS JAMAICENSJS. iONDKLEVu 



This was so nam^d from John de Laet of Antwerp. 



Cjen. char --Calyx a five.-leaved perianth ; leaflets oblong, concave, reflex, ro*. 

 loured, withering; corolla none, or else five-petals; stamens numerous filaments, 

 capillary, rather shorter than lhe calyx, with roundish anthers ; the pist'l has an 

 oblong germ, ending in a filiform style, longer than the .stamens ; stigma headed;; 

 depressed; the pericarp a globose berry., three-sided, furrowed with three lines, 

 tine-celled, .increased internally by a cartilaginous membrane; seeds very many, 

 nestling, cornered, coated with a purple aril. Two species axe natives of Jamaica. 



1.. GUlnOMA. 



Fvliis r.vatis uti'inqiie porrcctis, altemis, qnamloque crenatis ; racemii 

 la.iis ulanbus. Browne, p. 249, t. 29, f. 4. 

 Flowers apetalous; peduncles one-flowered, terminating; leaves oblong-acu- 

 minate, serrate, pubescent. 

 In the fruit of this tree, which seems nearly allied to samyda, the lines between the 

 valves are of a beautiful red colour, as well as the placentae ; and the riiaments of the 

 flower very numerous. The tree grows to a considerable size, and is esteemed u fine 

 timber-wood ; it is much used in all sorts of buildings. 



2. THAMXIA. 



Foliis avails levisslmc crenatis Lctc vlrent'bus nitidis alternis, petioli: 

 brevibus, -pedunculis gcniculatis. Browne, p. 245. 



This shrub was found in the lied Hills above the Angels; it is not common in the 

 island. Browne. 



In describing the characters of these two plants, Dr. Browne made them of a different 

 genus, no doubt from having examined imperfect flowers, as the partsin these are very 

 evanescent. In one' flower examined, which was expanded, only two petals were found, 

 and in another, not yet opened, tiiree or four. The petals are equal iu number to the 

 leaves of the calyx, and equal in length to the filaments ; they are placed in the divari- 

 cation of the cup, of an ovate form, but shorter and narrower than the leaves of the 

 perianth. Dr. Browne also observed the petals in one plant, and meeting with another 

 after the petals had dropped, he named 'itthamnia : the corolla, indeed, is but seldom 

 to be found after the flower opens, so much does nature sport with the fructification of 

 plants, thereby causing many errors in botany, which add much to the difficulties of 

 the science, and which nothing but time and the most careful industry can correct. 



No English Name. RONDELETIA. 



Cl. 5, OR. 1. Pentandria moncgynia. Nat or. linbiacetr. 

 So named by Plumier in memory of Guillaume Rondelet, a famous physician and 

 natural historian of Montpelier. 



Gen. chau. Calx x a one-leafed superior perianth, five-parted, acute, permanent; 

 corolla one-petaled, funnel-shaped; tube cylindrical, longer than the calyx, bel- 

 lying a little at top; border five-parted, from reflex flat; segments roundish; 



stamens 



